Blinky, Pinky, Inky and Clyde
by Proudofyoubabe
Summary: This takes place after 'It's a new day, it's a new dawn, it's a new year.' Ranger proposed to Steph during a romantic New Year's Eve at an old Victorian house his real estate agent was trying to sell him. We all know about Steph's sixth sense. She senses something...is this house haunted? Should he buy it? And just what kind of connection does Lester Santos have with the house?
1. Chapter 1

_Blinky, Pinky, Inky and Clyde_

This takes place after "It's a new day, it's a new dawn, it's a new year"

The story continues…

M rating

Thank you Margaret for not thinking my title as stupid as I did (think Pac man) and thank you for reading ahead as my Beta. :)

**Chapter One — The Ghost in the Machine**

"Babe, did you have a chance to think about the house we were in last night?" Ranger asked, setting breakfast down in front of me.

"The old Victorian?"

"Yeah Babe. What do you think; should we buy it?"

"I think it may have ghosts. It's been on the market for a long time."

"Are you afraid of ghosts?"

"Um… Sort of."

"What if we renovated? I like the privacy of the place and it would be easy to secure it. But if you really think it's haunted, we can keep on looking."

"I'm perfectly content _here_ Ranger," I said so I wouldn't have to explain my theory; ghosts don't care if you renovate…once they're there, they're there. And before I could figure out how to nicely change the topic, my cell phone rang.

"Stephanie what am I hearing?" my mother said, in lieu of hello. "Eleanor Barone's daughter wouldn't get engaged and not call her family."

How the hell the word got out, I'd never know. Ranger and I went straight from the beautiful, but maybe haunted, Victorian his real estate agent has been trying to sell him, right back to Rangeman. Right back to his comfy bed with its 1,000 count sheets. Not that I was counting, I was too busy doing other things.

"Ranger and I were going to come over this afternoon. Uh, Mom, I just need to ask…who told you?"

"Frances Albergetti's niece Antonia worked at that house last night and saw the whole thing. Your dinner for two, Ranger's proposal…"

"Mom, I don't want to hear anymore, that was private. How could she?"

My mother had no answer to my question, but we hung up knowing Ranger and I would be over in a few hours to share our news with her, my dad and my grandmother. Although at this point it was hardly news anymore. This stuff spread like wildfire in the 'Burg.

If my mother knew, Joe's mother knew. And if Joe's mother knew, Joe knew. Unfortunately Joe was one of the phone calls I wasn't interested in making right now so I sat staring at the egg white omelet Ranger just gave me instead.

"Babe, what's the matter?"

"That was my mother. It seems like one of your wait staff already told half the 'Burg about last night."

"Are you having second thoughts Babe?"

"About marrying you? No never. It's just that I know that Joe knows and since he's been acting so irrational lately, I'm not sure what he'll do. Part of me says that I should just call him and tell him and a bigger part says I should just let it all blow over for a couple of days. I have to call Mary Lou though. She'll never forgive me if she's hears this through the grapevine."

"From what you just said, she probably already knows. And I think, as much as you don't want to make that call, Morelli needs to hear this directly from you."

I knew he was right, but instead of doing anything, I put my phone down and took a bite of his egg white omelet.

"Mmmm. Onion…peppers and…mozzarella?"

"Only the best for you Babe. After breakfast call Mary Lou and Joe. Ok?"

"I know. I will," I said taking another bite and mentally freaking out.

"I'll go downstairs so you can have privacy," he said, thinking my apprehension had to do with his being there.

"Ranger, we have no secrets, you said so yourself. And I'd actually rather you didn't go downstairs. I'm just trying to figure out what to say to Morelli; I don't want him going crazy on me."

"Call Mary Lou first, you can practice on her."

We both finished breakfast and I helped Ranger load the dishwasher. I guessed I ran out of excuses so I went over to my brand new iPhone that I left on Ranger's breakfast bar and scrolled down for Mary Lou's number.

"Mare?" I said when she answered on the first ring.

"Is it true? Gail Mangianni called me a couple of hours ago. Are you and Ranger…?

"Yes Mare. Ranger surprised me with a very romantic evening last night…"

"I'll say. From what I heard you two had the old Sweeney house all to yourselves."

"We didn't have it _all_ to ourselves." And it seemed to me that one of the hired help had a big mouth. "But yeah, Ranger asked me to marry him and I said yes."

I looked down at my ring and then over at Ranger and I smiled at him. That was all he needed. He came over, took my phone out of my hand and put it back down on the breakfast bar. He pulled me to him and his lips came down on mine, kissing me as if his life depended upon it.

"Steph?" my name came from the phone that I suddenly realized was no longer in my possession.

I got control of myself and reached back for my phone, slightly out of breath from the kiss.

"I'm sorry Mare."

"It sounds like you have more important things to do right now than to talk to me. Though I hope you called your mother?"

"I didn't. She called me. But it's ok; Ranger and I will go over there later and straighten it all out."

"Just let me know when your wedding is so I can get a babysitter for this brood."

"Ok Mare. Thanks."

And we hung up.

"See Babe it was easy," Ranger said, full-on 200-watt smile in place.

"Easy for you to say."

"Call Joe."

I still had my phone in my hand, so I scrolled through until I got to the 'J's.' I took a deep breath and pushed down on the 'Joe' button.

What was it with people in the 'Burg? Didn't they have anything better to do than to sit around with their phones in their hands? Joe answered on the first ring.

"Cupcake?"

"Joe, I have something I need to tell you," I said breaking right into what I wanted to get off my chest.

"He certainly moves fast," Joe said, somewhat bitterly.

"I haven't even told you yet?"

Ranger got a call from the fifth floor while I was on the phone with Joe. "I have to go downstairs Babe," he mouthed to me, picking up my hand and kissing my fingers.

I nodded that I was ok, but as soon as I did the conversation went south.

"My mother called me at 7:30 this morning. Rumor has it that you and Ranger got engaged last night. I hope you know what you're doing Stephanie, because I won't be there for you to fall back on when he breaks your heart."

Somehow I found my voice and my ability to talk back to him. "No Joe, I don't expect you will." I was thinking more like you'd be with Terri or whoever else has caught your eye at the moment. "But you know what? Ranger will never _break _my heart."

"Just keep believing that. You're living in a dream world."

"What are you saying Joe?"

"You expect Mr. Alpha A. Male to hang in there for you?"

"Listen Joe, it looks like this conversation is going nowhere. I have things to do today and you're keeping me from them. Call me when and if you want to have an adult conversation about this."

I knew Joe was wrong. Ranger took out all of his alpha aggressions on the bad guys, but I sat there thinking about what Joe had said anyway.

"Babe, what's the matter?" I didn't hear Ranger come back into the apartment and I didn't know he was in the room, so I jumped when his voice took me out of my daydream.

"You scared me."

"I'm sorry. You always seem to know when I'm around; I didn't think I had to announce myself. Did something happen?"

I guessed I looked a little out of it because Ranger came over and put his arms around me protectively. And then he kissed me gently on my forehead.

"Babe?"

"I'm sorry. Joe just said that a man like you wouldn't be able to stay with someone like me for too long," I paraphrased.

"Morelli's an ass and he's still playing his manipulative games with you." He paused and then caught my eye. "Stephanie, look at me."

I did.

"I love you. And I've loved you pretty much since the moment I met you. I am not interested in any other woman. Not now and not thirty years from now. You are it. Dios, I've denied my feelings for you for so long, I'm not going to let him fuck this up."

"But Joe said…"

"Joe said what?"

"Joe went into a tirade about you being an alpha male and that I wouldn't…"

"Stephanie, Babe. If I wasn't ready to settle down and have you as my wife, I wouldn't have asked you. He's done such a number on you that it's easier for you to mistrust than it is to trust. Dios. What happened to my glass is half full, roses without thorns woman?"

Shit. I didn't have an answer. As far as I was concerned I was still the half-full kind of girl, but I understood what he was saying. Someone must have really screwed with my head.

Guessed it was Joe…and my mother.

I wasn't sure what I was feeling. I looked at Ranger and I felt helpless. I reached out for him and he took me in. He held me tight and cooed in my ear in Spanish.

When he switched to English I picked up, "I love you and no one will ever come between us."

And then my cell phone rang.

It was still in my hand where I had been clutching it tight after my call with Joe. I looked down at the display and saw it was my sister Valerie.

"Steph? What's going on with you?" she asked when I answered with a hello.

"Hey Val. Whatever you heard is true," I said boldly.

"I haven't heard anything, but mom just called and suggested I call you. Are you and Joe pregnant?"

The thought sent waves of nausea through me and I gagged. I handed the phone to Ranger and rushed to the bathroom to throw up my breakfast.

I knelt down over his bowl until the wave finally passed. I was flushed and breathing hard so I leaned against his sink for support while I rinsed my mouth and washed my face with cold water; hoping to wash away the mental image as well. I came back out to the living room to find Ranger still on my phone.

"…so in answer to your question, yes, I did give her a ring. If Stephanie's feeling ok, we plan to go over to your parents' house this afternoon to talk to your family in person." "No it's not sudden at all, but we've both been in denial for a very long time." "Yeah, like three years." "Thank you, maybe we'll see you later too? Do you want to talk to Steph?" he walked over to me, kissed me on my forehead, and handed me Val.

"I'm sorry, that was the last thing I expected to hear." "Yeah, I'm ok now. Did Ranger tell you our news?" "Thanks Val. I'm glad someone is happy for us. Maybe I'll see you later."

Once I hung up with Val I looked over at the man who was going to be my husband. "Thank you Ranger. I'm sorry. As soon as my sister asked me if Joe and I were pregnant, my stomach turned."

"I sure hope you're _not_ pregnant. It would be really weird to be marrying me and to be expecting his baby."

"No. I haven't been with Joe since before my last period. There's no way I can be pregnant. And _you_ keep insisting on double protection. We really don't need to use condoms you know. I take my pills religiously."

"I think we should both get tested and if we both get negative results we can stop using them."

"Why Ranger? What are you worried abou…? Oh shit. Joe's been fucking Terri, you don't think?"

"Babe, I try not to play games when it comes to my health or yours. It's a simple blood test. Bobby can do it for us."

I wasn't nervous about any kind of STDs before, but suddenly I felt almost sick to my stomach again.

"That son of a bitch," I yelled out to make myself feel better. "Son of a fucking bitch."

"Babe, we're probably both fine. Let's just take the test to make sure. I'll see if we can schedule some time with Bobby this morning. It will take a few days to get results back."

"I can't ask Bobby to give up his New Year's Day just because I had a panic attack. Tomorrow is fine. Besides, the sooner we head over to my parents' and let them know about our engagement, the better."

"On the way back can we stop at the Sweeney house? I still have the keys and I want you to take a look at it in the daylight."

"You know they never leave, don't you?"

"What are you talking about Babe?"

"Ghosts. Once they've made up their mind that this is the place they are going to haunt, you can't get rid of them. Well maybe you can excommunicate them or something."

"Excommunicate? Are you trying to tell me we need to bring in a priest to _exorcise_ that house if we decide to buy it?"

I was biting my lower lip. Exorcise, that was the word I was looking for. I nodded my head up and down slowly. "Unless you know another way?"

"Santos' parents' house used to be haunted. I think his mother had a heart-to-heart with the ghosts and they left."

"They don't leave that easy."

"Babe, how do you know this?"

"I just do."

"We can talk to Lester. Maybe he can meet us at the house later. Would you feel better about that?"

"You can't kill them either. They are already dead."

"I didn't mean for Lester to shoot them. He has experience living with 'spirits.' Maybe he'll get a feeling or something. And if you both tell me to pass on the house, I will. I just like the locale and it's already gated; setting up a security system will be easier than starting from scratch."

I didn't want Ranger to think I was narrow-minded, so I agreed and he called Lester. Like the rest of the guys, Lester would do anything for Ranger, so he said he'd meet us at the house after our visit with my parents. I guessed Les would be the first Rangeman to find out about our engagement too.

"Babe, I think we should head out now if we want to look over the house while it's still light out."

I nodded and went into his bedroom to get dressed.

"Ranger, where did these dresses come from?" I called out, seeing a couple of very pretty dresses with tags still on them, hanging in my corner of his closet.

"Ella likes to shop, so I asked her to pick up a couple of things for you. I hope you like them."

I knew Ella shopped for Ranger, but I didn't want to be an added burden.

"They are beautiful, but Ella can't shop for me. She works for _you_."

"I pay her well and she enjoys shopping, but if you don't like her taste, that's a different story."

"No Ranger, they are…they are beautiful." And very pricey, I said to myself. I could always keep the tags on and return them tomorrow. "I'll try one on and wear it to my parents. After all this is an _occasion_."

I found myself really drawn to the navy Donna Karan cowl-neck dress, so I slipped it on, but not before noticing the price. It was $1,495.00. Oh my God. Ranger shouldn't spend that kind of money on me.

I thought the one pair of Jimmy Choo's I owned would actually look good with this dress, so I looked down to the floor of his closet for them. Yes, they were still there, but so were three new pair of shoes and a beautiful pair of boots…all in my size and all very expensive.

"Ranger?"

"What Babe?" Ranger said, coming in and wrapping his arms around me.

"You're spending too much money on me. These shoes and dresses are expensive."

"I told you before Babe. No price. And I think you need to get used to me buying you things. It makes me happy to see you look beautiful. And you do look beautiful in this dress. Dios. If we don't leave soon, we may not leave," he said as an afterthought, his eyes darkening with desire.

Ranger was wearing black dress slacks and a light grey silk shirt. He looked absolutely edible and he was right, if we didn't get out of his closet now and put our coats on, we weren't heading out of the house today. His bed was just too close by.

And as much as I would have rather stayed and enjoyed Ranger, we grabbed our coats and headed down to the garage. Ranger fobbed open his turbo and then opened the passenger door for me. I'd never get used to all this attention, but it really did make me feel special.

Once I was buckled in to his liking he got into the drivers' side and we headed out.

My parent's house is only about seven minutes away from Rangeman, so we were there in no time. Ranger had just parked in front of the house when my mother and grandmother appeared at the door—so much for making a stealth entrance.

"Stephanie, Ranger, it's so nice to see you," my mother said opening the door for us and shooing my grandmother away from Ranger's ass at the same time.

My mother took our coats from us and as she was hanging them in the closet, I noticed Ranger's eye's go to something near my neck.

"Babe, you left a tag on," he whispered.

"Uh, no. I just didn't cut it off," I said.

"Mrs. Plum, do you have a pair of scissors?"

Shit. I was busted. And no way would my mother let Ranger cut a tag off of me in her house. I was double-busted.

"Please call me Helen. Steph, come with me into the kitchen and I'll cut that off." My mother paused and looked down at my hand before ushering me into her domain. "Oh my, that is some ring."

Yeah and wait until you get a load of the price tag on this dress.

I was sure my mother read the label as she cut the tag from me, but she said nothing and simply threw the tag into the garbage. We both came back out to the living room so that Ranger and I could properly announce our engagement to my family.

Ranger put his arm around me and nuzzled the top of my head. My family is not very affectionate, so I was sure that little PDA made everyone uncomfortable.

"Mr. and Mrs. Plum. Mrs. Mazur," Ranger began, looking at my family one-by-one as he formally called them by name. "We came over here today to let you know in person that I asked Stephanie to marry me last night. And she has graciously accepted."

"Congratulations," my grandmother said, pulling both of us in for a hug. And I was pretty sure she copped a feel of Ranger's ass in the process.

"Pumpkin, I hope you'll be happy with this guy," my dad said jokingly, getting up from his chair and offering his hand to Ranger. "Congratulations to both of you," he continued, pulling us in for a hug.

"Yes congratulations to both of you," my mother added. "Can I open a bottle of champagne?"

"I'll get that Helen," my dad said making his way into the kitchen. "Ranger, want to help me?"

"Let me see this ring," my grandmother ogled being anything but tactful. And when I showed her my hand she let out an exaggerated wolf-whistle. Of course my mother went in for another long look and I wondered just what she was thinking.

Thankfully Ranger and my dad came out with an open bottle of champagne and five glasses before I was asked any further questions. Ranger handed out glasses as my dad poured.

"Congratulations Ranger and Stephanie!" my dad led the toast once everyone had a little bubbly in their glass. 'Yes, congratulations!" came the reply. Somehow now it seemed real, although I wondered how come no one pulled me aside to ask about Joe.


	2. Chapter 2—This Old House

_Blinky, Pinky, Inky and Clyde_

This takes place after "It's a new day, it's a new dawn, it's a new year"

A/N Thank you so much for reading along and for all your wonderful reviews. They really do keep me going. :) Thank you :)

M rating

Thank you Margaret for not thinking my title as stupid as I did (think Pac man) and thank you for reading ahead as my Beta. :)

**Chapter Two— This old house**

The visit wasn't as bad as I expected. Everyone was genuinely happy for us, and no one brought up Joe. Thank God.

While we were saying goodbye to my family, Ranger called Santos and he agreed to meet us at the gate to the Sweeney estate in fifteen minutes. Ranger had keys, so there was no need to involve his real estate agent in the process.

Of course Ranger went through his routine of opening the passenger door for me and making sure I was belted in and thoroughly kissed before locking me in and taking his place on the driver's side. It was kind of cute. And I was sure my mother and grandmother watched the whole production.

When we got to the estate in Ewing, Santos was sitting in his vintage Ford Mustang outside. Ranger fobbed us through the gate and we headed single-file up the small hill that led to the house. It really was a beautiful setting and if I didn't get the feeling there was more to it than met the eye, I'd jump at the chance to live there.

As soon as Ranger opened the front door, I felt it again. The chill just came over my arms and upper body. Of course it was January in Trenton and the heat in the house had been turned way down to keep oil usage to a minimum.

"Babe, Santos. I want to walk through the house and get a feel for everything. I know we'll have to renovate a few things if we decide to buy and I'd love for you two to help me make some decisions. I'm pretty sure the heating system needs to be entirely revamped, so maybe we should start there."

We were going to start in the _basement_…in the boiler room? Holy fuck, was Ranger kidding me?

"When Elsa took me through this house for the first time last week she showed me where the hidden staircases are. Since this house was owned by gentry, it was a way for the servants to never be seen as they traveled through the house. Come…let me show you."

Ranger opened a door just to the inside of the foyer that was no wider than a small coat closet. I kind of reminded me of the door to Harry Potter's room when he lived with his aunt and uncle. The staircase was narrow and steep with limited headroom and I wondered how Lester and Ranger would be able to even fit in this space.

Suddenly I got a chill and I put my left hand to the wall to steady myself as we began to descend the stairs.

"Beautiful, is that what I think it is?" Lester said behind me. "Let me see that ring? Did Ranger give that to you?"

"Uh yeah. Ranger and I got engaged…um, _here_…last night. I, um, said yes."

"Well congratulations. There's no room in this stairway to pull you in for a hug but once we get to the basement I'll twirl you around." Funny thing was, I knew he wasn't kidding.

"Les?"

"What, Beautiful?"

"Ranger told me you grew up in haunted house. What was that like? Are you sensing anything strange here?"

"I never thought of our house as being haunted. We just had a ghost…or maybe it was two. I noticed the cold air when we first set foot in this place, but if Ranger's take that the boiler needs to be replaced is correct, that could be a big part of it. So far nothing is standing out as 'off' to me."

It was slow going walking down the stairs, especially since I was wearing four-inch heels. I didn't know why Ranger had to go this way. If these were servant stairs, weren't their _master _stairs somewhere else?

"Are we almost there?" I asked. Ranger was in the lead and I couldn't see over, around or through him.

"Yeah Babe, just three more stairs and then we open a door. Hold on, I'm going to stop."

Ranger opened the door that led into the basement and the dank smell suddenly hit my nostrils.

"It smells like raw earth," I said, putting my hand to my nose.

"It is. It's just a dirt floor Babe. Stay where you are, I want to put some lights on."

I was thoroughly creeped out—dirt floor, no lights, God help me. I reached back and grabbed Santos' hand. I wasn't walking in there by myself.

"Are you afraid, Beautiful?"

"No," I lied. "I just don't want to fall."

Suddenly I heard the sound of banging pipes. _Bang, bang, bang. Bang, bang, bang._ I practically jumped into Lester's arms.

"I know you want me Beautiful, but this is no way to behave in front of your fiancé."

"Shut up Lester, this isn't funny. That scared the hell out of me."

"You need to get used to creaky pipes. It's part of old house charm."

Charm my ass.

"The Rangeman building is old, why doesn't it sound like that?"

"It's not as old as this and I think Ranger replaced the entire heating system."

That was when I heard the footsteps on the floor above us. I was ready to have a heart attack when someone opened the door at the top of the stairs and called down.

"Ranger? Are you down here?"

It was a female voice. "Elsa?" I called back, hoping I remembered the name of his real estate agent correctly.

"Yes?"

"It's Stephanie Plum, Ranger's fiancé. We're down here, but Ranger just went into the basement to turn some lights on. Lester and I can come up if you need us." I volunteered, thinking it might be safer upstairs than it was down here.

"Come up when you're ready. I'm glad I bumped into you. I was able to get the building inspector to come out here tomorrow to go over the place like Ranger asked. I'll be in the living room."

Lights came on in the large open space in front of me and when I peeked in, the basement wasn't nearly as scary as I'd imagined. There was a big old boiler and lots and lots of overhead pipes, a few bare light bulbs hanging from simple electrical sockets and little else. Oh and a rusted bicycle with two flat tires that had to be at least fifty years old. How the hell anyone got that down these stairs was beyond me.

"Ranger?" I called, still not seeing where he'd disappeared to.

"I'm here Babe." Ranger's voice came from somewhere behind the massive boiler. "I can't get the boiler to go on until I put some water in it."

"Elsa is here, she said something about getting an inspector."

"Ok Babe, I'll be right out, we can come back down later."

_You_ can come back down; I've had enough _down_, I'd like to go _up_ and stay _up_.

It was hard for Lester to maneuver in the narrow staircase, so he asked me to go forward so that we could step into the basement room in order to turn around. As soon as my feet touched the dirt under them I got freaked out all over again. Thankfully Les kept his promise and picked me up to twirl me in a congratulatory hug.

"Congratulations Beautiful. I'm really happy for you and the boss man. Do I get to come to the wedding?"

"We haven't talked about a wedding, but I'd really like for you to be there," I said honestly. "And Tank and Bobby, Hector, Hal…all of you. I would feel terrible if we left anyone out. I guess you'll just have to close Rangeman down for the day."

"Beautiful it'll be a national holiday. No one ever expected Ranger to get married again."

"Are you talking about me?" Ranger said, making a reappearance from behind the boiler.

I was just about to answer when the _bang, bang, bang…bang, bang, bang _started all over again.

"Shit," I said, jumping. I was standing under one of the pipes and it was loud. Then just as suddenly a rush of cold air blew by me causing me to shiver.

"Babe are you ok?"

"I'd like to go upstairs; this basement is giving me the creeps. And you wanted my take on the _whole_ house. If I spend anymore time down here I'll want to nix everything."

Ranger came over and pulled me close. He basically ignored Santos' presence to put his arms around me and kiss me deeply. God could this man kiss.

"Shit man, you guys are hot together," Lester said with a huge grin on his face.

"Mats Santos. 5 am."

The three of us turned around and went back up the stairs, Lester was in the lead this time and Ranger picked up the rear after he went back into the basement to turn off the lights and shut the door behind us.

I felt hands on my ass as we walked up the stairs. Remind me to never get in front of Ranger on a steep, narrow staircase again.

Elsa was waiting for us in the living room and after introductions she got down to business.

"I was able to get the Ewing housing inspector by phone today. After I apologized for calling on New Year's Day I told him just who was interested in getting a pre-sale inspection and he all of a sudden became very accommodating. He'll meet you here at 10 am tomorrow morning."

"Shit," Ranger said, quite abruptly. Ranger never curses in front of company, so I knew something was up. "I'm sorry. I have a nine thirty meeting with the Mayor's office that I can't move. Stephanie, can you be here tomorrow for the inspection?"

I had nothing on my plate as tomorrow was my first day back from an extended closure of the Bond's office so that Vinnie could take Lucille on a cruise. So unfortunately I was free for this_ inspection_.

"I'm good, I can be here. What do you need me to do?"

"Just meet the building inspector and myself here at 10 am tomorrow," Elsa said. "He'll take us through the house and let us know what's up to code and what isn't. I suspect very little is up to today's code, so let's be ready with a checkbook."

I didn't have the ability to sign checks for Ranger so I just looked at him.

"It's ok Babe, I put you on my account a long time ago. You can just sign."

Holy shit. News to me.

"Ok. I'll meet you here at ten. Ranger wanted Lester's and my opinion of the place in the daylight," I said in way of an explanation for our being here. And also to let on that I'd been here before.

"I'll walk with you through the place too, in case you have any questions."

I hadn't seen much of the house except for the living room, dining room and the powder room on the first floor last night, so I was anxious to see the rest of it too. Especially since Ranger seemed so enamored with it.

"Let's start with the kitchen. I think that room needs the most work. Obviously the utilities still work, you used them last night, but they are old and probably in need of updating."

The kitchen was a disaster. I was glad I didn't see it last night or I would never have eaten anything.

"Babe the caterers brought the food in. They just used the stove to reheat everything," Ranger said, reading my mind. "I'm almost certain we'll have to gut this room. But look how it opens to what I imagine is a pretty garden."

I didn't garden so that was lost on me. But this was Ranger; he'd probably get gardeners.

"I think those are rose bushes," I added, seeing something that looked like it might have thorns on it.

"Shall we go upstairs?" Elsa asked, when I seemed to have been kitchened out.

"There are five bedrooms and two baths upstairs," she continued. Like I'd ever have need for five bedrooms.

We went up the creaky old _master_ stairs. If they weren't so creaky and in need of a lot of attention, they would have been pretty with their curved wooden banisters and over-sized steps.

The upstairs rooms were small, well except for the master bedroom. The baths were old and the pipes rusting. I glanced into one of the tubs and I knew there was no way I'd ever be able to take a bath in it, without about a year of scrubbing.

"Babe, we can gut these too. We'll need all new plumbing anyway." Mind reader.

"There's a partial third floor above this with two other bedrooms and one additional bath. And then there's an attic above that," Elsa told us taking the lead going up the next set of stairs.

"Les, are you feeling anything?" I asked our resident ghost expert.

"No, but I may be out of shape. I haven't lived home in fifteen years. I like this place though. It needs work, but I can see you and Ranger living here."

He could? I couldn't.

After we had the full tour, including the creepy attic Ranger asked for my thoughts. "Well, Babe?"

"I'm no expert, but I think it needs a lot of work."

"I'm pretty sure it will, but we're in no rush. Before you make up your mind lets see what the building inspector has to say."

"I can come with you tomorrow," Lester said, hanging up his phone and putting it back into his pocket.

"Thanks Les, I'm not sure I want to be here alone with you know…spooks."

Elsa heard my comment to Lester and looked at me strangely. "You think there are ghosts here?"

I just nodded my head up and down. I didn't want to make a big deal of it.

We said goodbye to everyone and Elsa locked up the place. I was happy Les could come with me tomorrow if Ranger couldn't. I didn't particularly know much about houses and if the building inspector asked me anything I wouldn't know how to answer him. I figured between Elsa and Lester I was off the hook.

As we were riding back to Rangeman in the turbo I decided to ask Ranger some questions.

"So why are you so drawn to this house?"

"I told you. I like that it's already a gated piece of property and I like that the house is set way back and on a hill. All good security measures. I noticed some soft wood in the basement today though, so I'm a little concerned about that. If it's anything major the inspector will let us know."

"What does soft wood mean?"

"It could mean rot or just being in close proximity to a leaky pipe—but somehow there is moisture in the wood. And that's not a good thing."

"What if it's rotten?"

"I don't know. I've never encountered that before. Let's hope our inspector is honest."

I accepted that and went on to my last and most important question.

"So did you enjoy feeling my ass on the way up those little tiny stairs?"

"Babe?" Ranger pulled over, stopped the turbo and looked at me. "I was nowhere near your ass."


	3. Chapter 3—Bringing in the Big Guns

_Blinky, Pinky, Inky and Clyde_

This takes place after "It's a new day, it's a new dawn, it's a new year"

A/N Thank you so much for reading along and for all your wonderful reviews. They really do keep me going. :) Thank you :)

M rating

Thank you Margaret for reading ahead as my Beta. :) I much appreciate :)

**Chapter three—Bringing in the Big Guns**

"Do you want the good news first or the bad news?" the inspector said to me three hours into the home inspection.

I wondered if Ranger was still in his meeting with the mayor so I texted him before answering the inspector.

When Ranger didn't answer after ten minutes I knew I couldn't stall any longer so Lester, Elsa and myself sought out the building inspector who was outside looking at the roof through field glasses.

"My fiancé isn't answering his texts. I guess you'll have to tell the three of us what you've discovered."

"Good news or bad news?"

"Give me the good first," I said trying to be the half-full person Ranger thought I was.

"This house was built in 1886, so technically it's a historic house, but papers were never filed, so you have some options."

I wasn't sure if that was good news or bad and what would the ghosts think about this?

"Ok, what does that mean?"

"It means you won't be held to the very stringent guidelines of historical houses if you decide to renovate. Let's talk about what's going on here before we get into that, ok?"

"Sure."

"This house has been neglected. No one has lived in it for the last ten years and unfortunately it has deteriorated even more during that period of time. Your windows are leaded glass. You have asbestos and lead throughout the house. Lead paint just about everywhere. The boiler is shot and your heating system is certainly not up to code with all those lead pipes. The electrical system is a fire waiting to happen. Your roof has dry rot. Most of your beams also have dry rot, but the worst is the rot in the basement, which is a combination of rot, mold and insect infestation. Shall I go on?"

"Is it fixable? And is it worth it?" I asked knowing how much Ranger seemed to like this place.

"In my estimation?"

"Yes."

"No. The property is very nice and I believe most of the worth of this place resides in the property, but this house will be a constant money pit. The treatment for dry rot is labor-intensive, not to mention carcinogenic. And you will have to continually watch out for beam shrinkage if you use any of the treatments on the market. And beam shrinkage will ultimately cause your house to collapse. I'd suggest tearing it down and rebuilding. If you like the Victorian look, there are many contemporary Victorian floor-plans on the market…"

And he went on. I wished I could get in touch with Ranger. Damn. I looked over at Lester who was glazed over at this point and I sent out a mental prayer.

Elsa seemed to have it all together. "Thank you Faust. We'll talk with Mr. Manoso this afternoon and give him your take on the place. What do we owe you for today's inspection?" she asked, calling me over to shell out money from Ranger's checkbook.

"Thirty-two hundred dollars for my services. No extras today. Let's talk tomorrow and see what you want to do."

I had the Cayenne with me, so Lester and I got in to head back to Rangeman. We promised Elsa we'd call her and possibly Ranger and I would stop by her office when I finally made contact with him. Somehow Les beat me to the driver's seat, so I used my free hands to try calling Ranger again.

"Yo."

"Yo yourself. We're finished with the inspection and Lester and I are on our way back to Rangeman. Where are you?"

"I'm in my office. I just got back too. You want to tell me now or do you want to stop by?"

"Les and I will stop by. See you in ten." "Us either. Ok, bye."

"Can we stop at Pinos' on the way back to the office? Ranger hasn't eaten either and he wants to hear what Faust had to say."

Lester made a U-turn and headed the other way towards Pinos. I used my free hands again to call ahead and order two meatball subs for me and Les and a Greek salad for Ranger.

I saw a bunch of cop cars in the parking lot, but that was normal for two o'clock on a Wednesday. I just hoped Joe wasn't with them.

Unfortunately luck wasn't in my favor today and Joe was standing by the take-out counter. Just where we were headed. He was looking right at the door, so there was no escaping him. I watched Lester move his hand towards his gun, just in case he'd need it.

"Hey Cupcake," he called to me.

"Hi Joe. How's it going?" I asked more to be friendly than to really know.

"It's going. I hear you and Ranger are looking at the old Sweeney house."

I guessed news of the inspection already got back to him.

"Well, it didn't pass inspection and it will be more expensive to restore than to tear down. I don't know what we're going to do."

"Have you seen the ghosts yet?"

"See? No." I wasn't going to tell Joe about a ghost feeling up my ass.

"I've heard stories of kids scaling the fences and going in there to make out and then running scared from the place."

"What did the stories say?" I asked, suddenly interested.

"Ice cold drafts, banging pipes, sounds of feet running and sometimes the women were touched."

"No shit? Touched how?"

"Touches to their arms, their faces. Little things. I think one of the ghosts likes pretty women." With big butts I thought.

"I'll be sure to keep that in mind. Thanks Joe," I said when our order arrived. "See you around."

"Let me know if he buys the place. I'll alert Ewing PD of _your_ new address."

"Ha ha. Very funny. Bye Joe."

Once we were safely out the door, I looked over at Lester. I was going to have to be honest with him. "Um Les, I need to talk to you. I experienced all those things yesterday at the house."

"What are you talking about?"

"I felt the icy cold drafts. Well we all heard the banging and I sensed someone walking, but I thought it was Elsa…and the ghost touched me."

"He touched you? Where?"

I was going to have to tell him if I wanted him to believe me. "On the way up those narrow basement stairs. I thought it was Ranger behind me playing games and grabbing my ass, but he said he didn't touch me and was a few stairs below me."

Lester let out the biggest grin and started to laugh.

"At least he has good taste Beautiful."

"Let's get back to Rangeman while these are still hot." Jerk.

We were back at the office in five minutes and Lester parked by the elevator. This was one of Ranger's cars after all.

When we got to Ranger's office he was on the phone but ushered us in, said goodbye and hung up.

"Let's go upstairs? I want to hear what the inspector said and there are too many interruptions down here."

Once we were all comfy around Ranger's breakfast bar and had taken a few bites of our lunch, Ranger began the questioning.

"So what did he say?"

"In a nutshell, the house failed inspection. There's lead everywhere, the boiler's shot, the wiring is faulty and our beams are rotted through. He said even if we fixed the beams we'd have to keep an eye on them for shrinkage and if that were to happen the house would collapse." I looked over at Lester to see if he wanted to add anything.

"And you have rot, mold and insect infestation in the basement. Oh and the roof is rotted through."

"Is it fixable?"

"I asked the same thing and Faust thought it was too far gone to save. He said we should demolish and rebuild. He says the real value there is the property, not the building."

"Isn't it historic? I'm not sure we can demolish it."

"Faust said it should be because of its age, but no paperwork was ever put in on it, so we can do what we want."

"What would you like to do Babe?"

"I'd say demolish and rebuild, but that's not going to get rid of the ghosts. And Joe said…"

"Joe said what? Where did you see Joe?" Ranger asked getting all protective on me.

"At Pinos, but don't worry he was on good behavior and I saw Les' hand at his gun just in case. Joe said kids go in there to make out and the ghosts scare them off. And one ghost seems to like pretty women and touches them. Yeah, it's ok we can talk about it. I told Lester."

"I can ask my mother about getting rid of the ghosts before you demolish," Lester interrupted. "I doubt they will like their home being torn down and will probably create a lot of havoc."

"You believe this too, don't you?" Ranger addressed Les.

"Yeah man. I'm telling you, don't mess with the spirits."

"Oh and Elsa wanted us to call her after we spoke with you," I added. "She may need us to go over there."

"Ok, let's be serious for ten minutes before we call. Do we like the property enough to make the estate an offer on the place?"

"The place is pretty, I just want to know that we can get rid…"

"Stephanie, please be serious. Should I make an offer? We'll fumigate, whatever we have to do, just let me know if you like the property."

"Yes…but…"

"But what?"

I could tell Ranger was getting short with me. He'd probably lose it if I brought up the ghosts again, but there was no way I could live in a house, old or new, with dead wisps of things going after my ass. Uh uh. No way.

I just rolled my eyes at him in lieu of an answer.

"Babe, yes or no?"

"Can we talk to Lester's mother first?"

"Santos, do you want to call her?"

"Yeah boss. She should be home now."

Lester took out his phone, called his mother and put the phone on speaker so we could all hear what she had to say. He asked her about getting rid of spirits. He did _not _use the word ghosts, and she told us there were a number of ways to accomplish this. She suggested we bring a shaman in; but if we didn't want to go that route, talking to them and smudging the house with sage could be quite effective too.

I thought I'd like to try smudging and talking first. If Ranger's having an inspector look at the house was all over the 'Burg imagine what they'd think of a shaman? And where do you even find one? Well probably Elena Santos knew.

And just when I figured I'd have to learn how to do this stuff on my own and was getting ready to google smudging, Lester's mother volunteered her services.

"I can help you with the smudging if you want. I know where to get smudge sticks and I've done this before. I think Stephanie should be the one to talk to the spirits though since one of them seems to have taken a liking to her. Steph, I can give you some pointers on what to say, but you should do this at night. Alone."

Great. Shoot me now.

"Uh are you sure I need to do this by myself in the dark?"

"Spirits tend to only listen to one person and if one of them has reached out to you already, I think you need to take that as an invitation and run with it. I know nighttime sounds scary, but spirits are most active at night. If you want to make sure your spirit hears you, I'd suggest you speak with him after dark.

"Ok Mrs. Santos. I'd like to take you up on your offer to help _smudge_…and the sooner the better. If we're going to buy this place and demolish, I don't want to start anything until they're gone. Lester said they'd create havoc otherwise."

"Well Lester should know. All we did was try to add some recessed task lighting into our living room and our spirit went crazy. I can meet with you tomorrow if that's good for you?"

"Yes. Thank you so much Mrs. Santos."

"Please call me Elena. Where do you want me to meet you? Rangeman?"

"Um. I'd like you to see the house. Maybe Lester and I can pick you up and bring you there?"

I knew I was speaking for Lester, but I hoped since he volunteered his mother, he'd come along for the ride. I looked over at him to see if he was ok with my suggestion and he didn't seem to be shaking his head violently. I guessed we were good.

"Ok," Ranger said, "Now that that's settled, let's call Elsa and put a bid in on the place. Are we in agreement?"

"Yes. As long as I know Lester's mom can help get rid of our _spirits _I'm good." I put extra emphasis on _'spirits'_ so Ranger could see I was taking a cue from Elena Santos and not calling them ghosts.

Ranger had his phone in his hand, so at my 'yes' he called his real estate agent.

"Hi Elsa, it's Ranger. Stephanie and Santos just took me through the inspector's assessment of the place. I must say I'm a little disappointed, but maybe knowing the place is not salvageable will lower the asking price of the property," Ranger subtly negotiated.

"I can check with the lawyers who are handling the estate, but I'm in agreement with you. You shouldn't be paying full price for a house that has to be demolished."

"See what you can do. I do plan on moving forward with the purchase of the property regardless, but let's make them nervous and see what they come back with. I have two additional things on my mind as well. Was wondering if I can bring in my architect's surveyor to take measurements of the place and also Stephanie would like to go over there one night this week to take some measurements."

"You have the keys. No one else is interested in the property, but I can get both of those things sanctioned by the estate if you'd feel better about being there legally."

"Yes, I would. In my business we don't take chances."

"I understand. Do you and Stephanie want to come in this afternoon? I can call the Sweeney estate lawyers right now and get approval for you to be on the property and also see if we can get them to drop the asking price. I'll be here until six today."

"We'll be over around four. I just need to tie up some loose ends here and Stephanie needs to make an appearance at her office so they don't think she's shirking her responsibilities," Ranger said looking at me, knowing full well I never even called Connie this morning.

I looked right back at him, giving him that totally innocent look I've mastered so well and picked up my phone. It was answered after two rings.

"Hi Connie, it's Steph. Happy New Year." "Thanks, you too." "Well let's see. Joe and I broke up for good." "Yep for good." "Yeah, well you know… And Ranger and I got engaged," I added quickly in the hopes she wouldn't catch on right away. "Yes, it was sudden, but we're happy. We're buying a haunted house." "I'll tell you about it later. Do you have anything for me?" "Ok, I'll be over in about a half an hour. Is Lula there?" "I'll bring donuts."

"Ranger, my car is in the parking lot behind my building, do you think I could either borrow a car or someone could take me to get mine? Connie has a couple of files for me."

"Take the Cayenne. Will you be back in time for us to go to Elsa's or should I pick you up at the Bond's office?"

"What time do we have to leave?" I asked not even knowing where Elsa's office was.

"Three thirty. I'll pick you up, someone can bring the Cayenne back."

"You sure?"

"Babe."

I got my crap together and headed down to the garage. I had to stop at Rite Aid to pick up some tampons and dental floss, but it was kind of on the way to the Bond's office.

I got in Ranger's car and headed out, fobbing my way out of the garage and making a right hand turn. There was parking on Greenwood right in front of the Rite Aid, so I parked and went in. I got everything I needed along with a couple of birthday cards, just in case. They were on sale for 50% off. I got back into my car and was stopped at the light when an older woman flagged me down.

I opened my window to see what she wanted and she asked if I could drive her to the CVS a few blocks down the street.

"The bus hasn't come by in over a half an hour and it's cold out here," she said. I scanned her wardrobe and realized she wasn't dressed for 21º so after throwing my bag and crap into the back seat I opened the door for her.

"Thank you honey. Are you Italian?"

"Half," I said, really not wanting to talk to a stranger.

"I'm Armenian from Europe," she said smiling, gold tooth and all. "You should go to the CVS they have good coupons. Rite Aid has nothing."

Like I said, I really didn't want to get into a conversation with this woman, so I just grunted.

"What do you do for a living?" she spoke again, trying to engage me in conversation.

"I work as a BEA for my cousin Vinnie," I said knowing full well she wouldn't know what a BEA was and hoping it would just slide past her.

"Oh good, you work. I'm a seer."

"A seer?" I asked, not knowing what that was.

"A healer, a seer, a medicine person."

Oh great, I picked up a cuckoo lady. "That's nice," I said instead.

"Here drop me off on the corner, I can just cross the street. It was nice meeting you." And as suddenly as she appeared, she disappeared.

I didn't think anything of it until I looked down into the well between the seats where Ranger keeps quarters for meters… they were all gone.

Shit, she stole from me.


	4. Chapter 4—Honesty is the Best Policy

_Blinky, Pinky, Inky and Clyde_

This takes place after "It's a new day, it's a new dawn, it's a new year"

A/N Thank you so much for reading along and for all your wonderful reviews. They really do keep me going. :) Thank you :)

M rating

Thank you Margaret for reading ahead as my Beta. :) I much appreciate :)

**Chapter Four—Honesty is the Best Policy**

I was so upset that this 'seer' took the maybe two dollars in change Ranger kept in the well between his front seats that as soon as I was parked in front of the Bond's office, I dug into my purse and found some quarters to replace the missing coins.

I wasn't sure I wanted to tell Ranger about this little episode yet and maybe he wouldn't notice that a few quarters were missing while I decided what I was going to do.

Oh well, I had some time to think.

I got out of the Cayenne and made my way to the office door when it opened and Lula stepped out.

"Hey girlfriend, where's the donuts you promised us? Let's get back in that big ol' car of yours and go over to Tasty Pastry before they sell out. I understand you got some good stories to tell us and I'm always a better lis'ner on a full stomach. Know what I'm sayin'?"

Lula and I got back into the Cayenne and headed over to Tasty Pastry to pick up a dozen donuts.

"What's this I hear about you and Joe?" she asked making the throat slash gesture.

"I only want to go through this once, I'll tell you and Connie when we get back."

"So did Ranger give you a ring, or is he cheap-skate too?" she kept on.

"Lula, I'm serious, I only want to go through this one time. It's complicated and it's hard for me."

"What's that on your finger? Holy shit, that's the biggest diamond I've ever seen from someone who ain't dealin'. You sure he ain't messing with the brothers?"

"Once, Lula," I said again.

"This better be good."

"Let's just get the donuts. Here," I said handing her a twenty, "just get whatever you want, I need to call Ranger."

Lula got out of the car to pick up some donuts and I placed a call.

"Babe?"

"Maybe you should pick me up sooner. Lula's all over me. I'll be ready to go in ten minutes. I just sent Lula in to Tasty Pastry. I'm done. Cooked. Burnt. Fried. Why does everything have to be so hard?"

"Babe," he said through what could only be laughter, "I can't leave yet. I'll be over as soon as I can. Just hang in there."

Lula came back out with two bags.

"I thought this might be more than a dozen kind of story, so I got extras. I guess the only way I'm gonna get anything out a you is if we go back to Vinnie's and you tell me and Connie together. I'm ready," she said buckling in.

I drove back, parked the Cayenne and we both got out. Through the corner of my eye I noticed Lester approaching the Bond's office from the other direction. I assumed Ranger called him in as a means for a quick escape if things got too difficult.

"Beautiful?" Lester asked, the concerned look on his face visible as we got close enough to talk.

"I'm ok. I have to do this, but are you going to be around?"

Lester nodded yes and I knew my hunch was correct. Ranger sent Lester…just in case.

I went in with Lula and as I turned to shut the door, I noticed Lester was standing outside at parade rest. I didn't know how long he'd stay like that and I'd feel much more comfortable if he came in, but I didn't necessarily want him to hear what I had to say. I guessed he was dressed warm enough and Ranger did say he'd be by as soon as he could.

"Ok girlfriend, give," Lula demanded once we were settled around Connie's desk and we each had a donut in hand.

I usually like to keep my personal life as personal as I can, but they did need a little explanation. After all when the office closed for an extended Christmas break close to two weeks ago, I was on with Joe and Ranger was out of the picture. Well as much out of the picture as Ranger ever is. You know, just a little left of center.

"Ok," I said taking a bite of my Boston Cream, "you know I hadn't seen Joe in a while because he was deep in some undercover assignment…"

"Yeah you were grouchy because you weren't getting any," Lula interjected.

"Anyway he was able to get away on Christmas Day for dinner at my parents. Only somewhere between the baked ham and the pineapple upside down cake he got called back to work, well it wasn't work exactly, but he got called away and I went home by myself…"

"So you still didn't get any." Lula said, serious.

I ignored her and went on. "Well I was sitting in my living room having a mini pity party when Ranger came by. He had a Christmas present for me. Well, it wasn't exactly a Christmas present…"

"White girl, will you get to the point," Lula broke in again, annoyed.

"And then he showed me a video feed of Joe and Terri in a compromised position."

"I knew he was doing it with Terri, I just knew it," Lula interrupted again.

"Do you want the story or not?" I asked, this time it was me that was getting annoyed.

"Yes," both Lula and Connie said in unison.

So I gave them the abridged version of Joe the stalker, Joe the earring ripper and Ranger the savior. Since I was sure they already knew about the house, I added in how Ranger asked me to marry him and now we were hoping to buy this house…only it was haunted. Whew. I was pretty sure I was caught up.

"Step back girlfriend, you buying a haunted house?"

"Well Lester's mother is going to help me unhaunt it and then we're going to tear it down." Now I was sure I was done.

"The outside Lester? His mama into that kind of stuff?"

Thankfully Ranger opened the Bond's office door at that moment and both he and Lester stepped in. Whew, saved by Rangeman.

Ranger came over to me, wrapped his arms around me and bent down to kiss me on top of my head.

"Babe, you ready to go?"

"Where you guys going?" Lula asked.

Ranger flashed her a look and Lula shut up. Connie handed me the two files she had saved for me, and the three of us left Vinnie's together.

Ranger had his turbo with him and he fobbed open the car and helped me in…but not before pulling me to him in an effort to kill any space between us and kissing me thoroughly. Lester grinned evilly, saluted us goodbye and walked off towards the Cayenne. I guessed it was getting back to Rangeman safely after all.

We drove the short distance to Ewing and Ranger parked in front of a Real Estate agency. Elsa's desk sat perpendicular to the window and she waved to us once she caught sight of Ranger helping me out of the turbo.

We waved back and entered the office, hopeful for any news she was able to learn in the last few hours. She was smiling broadly, so I got a feeling this was going to be good.

"I spoke with the law firm that handles the Sweeney estate and have good news. They've agreed to lower the price on the property $300,000 which is what they estimate the cost of the demolition to be. You're also cleared to come and go as often as you wish so that your architect can draw up plans and for you to measure whatever you were going to measure. They do want to know if you're jerking their chain though and if you're not they'd like to close on the place as soon as you can get financing."

"I don't need to get financing and I appreciate their good will and price reduction. I can close as soon as I can get my lawyer to meet with them…"

"Ranger," I interrupted, "can I talk with you in private for a minute?"

"Of course Babe. Excuse us Mrs. Kennedy. Is there someplace we can be alone for a few minutes."

"Elsa please and yes, take the conference room over there."

Once we were safely inside and the door was closed, I brought up my concerns again.

"I'm not sure I want to buy the place if we can't get rid of the spirits. I can't live in a place where something I can't see keeps grabbing my ass. I'm serious Ranger, can we make that a stipulation?"

"Stipulations are in writing from your lawyer. Do you want me to have Patterson write 'ghosts' into a list of things that will make the contract null and void?"

"Yes." I stood firm.

"Ok Babe, but he's going to laugh his ass off."

"I don't care. It's his ass or mine."

"Understood. Let's go back out and bring this up with Elsa. She'll need to let them know to look for some odd stipulations from our lawyer."

"Non-negotiable. I'm serious."

Once we were again seated in the two chairs in front of Elsa's desk Ranger spoke honestly with her.

"Stephanie wants a stipulation added to the contract that they might balk at. She felt the presence of…well for arguments sake let's say 'spirits' in the house and wants us to be able to get out of the contract if we can't get rid of them in a timely fashion. We've already contacted someone to come out and smudge the place and will try a few other methods, but if the place is truly spirit infested, we'd like an out."

I couldn't believe he said that with a straight face.

Elsa didn't laugh. She looked from Ranger to me and then spoke.

"This house was under contract about three and a half years ago. The people looking to buy didn't care that the building didn't pass inspection; they were going to restore. I don't think the beams were as severely damaged then as they are today and the inspector at the time agreed with their decision. Unfortunately the couple, who resided in New York City, spent a night at the house so they could get an early start with their architect the next morning and were scared off the premises in the middle of the night.

"A different law firm is handling the estate now, but I'm sure there is mention of that incidence somewhere, since unfortunately the couple had to sue to get out of their contract. I don't think this will be a problem."

"I don't want this to just be between us," Ranger continued. "I'm going to have 'spirits' specifically added in as a stipulation. Stephanie's welfare is first and foremost in my mind."

"Understood. I will let them know what you propose. I'll get back to you as soon as I get an answer. When are you going to do the smudging?" she asked, like smudging was an everyday occurrence.

"Tomorrow," I said, almost wishing I'd find a way to get out of it.

"Ok. Stay safe."

We left and drove by the property one more time on our way back to Trenton. The sun had already set, but I wouldn't say it was dark out.

"Want to go in, Babe?" Ranger asked taking my hand in his and bringing it to his lips, a gesture that normally would have me following him anywhere.

I shook my head no. "Tomorrow in the daylight will be soon enough."

"Can I take you dinner then?"

"Are we dating again?"

"I told you I wanted to take you places and show you things."

"Yes, but now we're engaged."

"So what does that have to do with anything? I want to take you to dinner and…"

"I thought that romancing stops once you got engaged."

"My romancing you _never_ stops Babe. You are important to me and I want the world to know…Mexican or Mediterranean? The Mediterranean place has soft lighting and music. It's quite romantic. The Mexican place is casual but it has good food. I'm partial to the Mediterranean place, but the choice is yours."

"Mediterranean it is then. Have I told you today that I love you?"

"Good to know. I love you too Babe."

Ranger drove maybe a mile or so and parked in front of a beautiful little place with small lanterns evenly spaced across the front. He opened my door for me and helped me out of the car, kissing my lips when he pulled me up to my full height. He led me inside where a waiter seemed to be expecting us. He nodded to Ranger and then to me and ushered us to a very private table in the back.

The place was beautiful.

I noticed a dance floor near the bar and couples were dancing while they waited for their food to arrive. I had learned on our trip to Florida that Ranger liked to dance, so I wondered if he would ask me after we ordered. It would be nice to be holding him close, chasing away all those scary thoughts.

"Babe?"

"I'm sorry, I noticed the dance floor and I got carried away thinking about Florida."

"Would you like to dance Babe? Let's place our order and then I'd love to take you into my arms."

"Mmmm."

Ranger ordered a bottle of red and some stuffed zucchini blossoms as an appetizer. We also placed our order for our main courses at the same time: shrimp scampi for Ranger and eggplant parmigiana for me.

Our waiter brought the wine and our appetizers right away. After professing his love for me over the wine and taking a few bites of the sumptuous zucchini blossoms, Ranger asked me to dance. He came over to my chair, helped me up and onto the dance floor. We weren't particularly dressed for an evening of dancing and my jeans were nowhere near as sensual as a dress might be, but I enjoyed myself none-the-less. We noticed the waiter bringing our main courses over to our table so Ranger ushered me back to our seats with his arms around my waist and his lips to my neck. He was as romantic as the place, and we could always dance more after dinner.

Somehow the night slipped away and when we finally left the restaurant it was after ten. Ranger had been attentive and seductive the whole evening and I couldn't wait to get back to Rangeman so we could continue with "dessert."

"If we lived on the estate I could be making love to you already," Ranger said as we turned onto Hamilton.

Oh God, doesn't he know what he does to me when he says these things? Actually, I'm sure he does and he was probably counting on it. So I reached over and put my hand on his very muscular thigh and let my fingers inch upwards.

"Babe?"

"Mmmm?"

"You keep doing that and we may have a little problem with the cameras."

"Mmm hmm." I mumbled and just kept inching. Two could play this game.

Ranger fobbed us into the garage and took his usual spot by the elevator. I noticed him adjusting himself as he got out of the car. Tee hee. He opened the door for me and helped me out. Probably it was as much for camouflage as it was to make physical contact with me.

Once we were in the elevator he pulled me against him and just held me as he leaned against the back of the car. Yep, he was using me as a distraction. Hopefully whoever was on monitor duty would stop watching now and we'd be able to sneak off on seven.

Just as Ranger fobbed us into his apartment his cell phone rang. He took it out of his pocket and showed me the display. It was Lester.

I knew he didn't want to answer, but it might be important so he hit his reply button.

"Yo."

"Sorry to disturb you, I asked Erik to let me know when you came back into the building. Do you have a minute?"

"What's up?" Ranger answered his question with another question.

"My mother was able to get in touch with her shaman. She thought it might help to bring her tomorrow just in case we'll need to use her services. I wanted to check if that was ok."

Ranger looked at me and handed me the phone.

"Hi Les. Yeah sure, do we have to pick her up too?"

"No, she'll be at my mother's. I just need to tell her yes or no. So…yes?"

"Yes, that's ok. I'll see you tomorrow at eleven."

Ranger took his phone out of my hand and ended the call before I even got the last of my words out. He put it down on the credenza with his gun belt and my bag; then he pulled me to him.

His eyes were dilated black and I knew I was in for it.

His hands went under my shirt and he was hard against me. He lifted my shirt over my head as he picked me up and carried me into the bedroom, shedding clothes along the way.

He threw me onto the bed. His voracity seemed insatiable as he kissed his way down my body. His hands were everywhere and his mouth followed. Ranger knew exactly what he was doing; and he was getting even for my teasing in the car.

Then very abruptly he slowed the pace down. Way down.

He started nibbling on my ear and just my ear. Then by using his mouth and his tongue he made his way to the sensitive area where my neck meets my shoulder, sending goose bumps throughout my entire body. God did he know what he was doing to me?

Once he was satisfied that my neck couldn't give me any more goose bumps he moved lower and took a breast into his mouth while he played with the other one. He was going to be the death of me. I was so ready for him; I couldn't stand it any more.

"Ranger."

"I'm busy now Babe."

He moved lower down my body and circled my belly button with his tongue, then French-kissed it before moving even lower. He turned me over, bit my ass and then kissed it before moving his tongue to one of my inner thighs. I was going crazy.

"Ranger I need you now."

"I told you, I'm busy."

He was absolutely making me insane, so I reached for his very erect penis in hopes he'd get the message. But somehow he was faster than me and moved out of my reach.

"Patience Babe. I need to taste you first," he said as he moved his mouth right over where I wanted him. God. And that was the last I thought about ghosts and shaman and crazy people.

XXXxxxXXX

I woke up to the alarm going off. God it was too early. I rolled over to snuggle into Ranger in hopes that the incessant buzzing would go away…but Ranger wasn't there.

I threw a pillow at the clock, but it just kept buzzing, so I got up to turn it off and check the time. It was 8:15. I needed to get up now anyway if Les and I were to meet his mom at eleven.

I put on Ranger's T-shirt that was on top of the laundry basket and I padded out to see if I could find him. I smelled coffee in the kitchen and there were whole grain bagels on a plate, but no Ranger. I padded back to his office to see if he was maybe doing some work from home this morning, but it was dark and empty. He was either at the gym or he got an early start.

I checked my phone for a text message and what I saw brought a big smile to my face: 'I ‹3 U. Coffee made, Ella brought breakfast. I'm in my office. Come down b4 u leave.'

I texted him back: 'I ‹3 U 2. Thank U. B down later :),' and went off to shower and get ready for my day.

I wasn't sure what you wore to a smudging party, so I threw on a pair of black jeans and a T-shirt. My quasi-Rangeman uniforn. I did my hair as best I could and put on an extra coat of mascara for courage. I'd need it today.

I went back to the kitchen and poured myself a cup of coffee. I took a look in the refrigerator and decided the low-fat cream cheese and smoked salmon Ella brought would be fine, so I toasted up a bagel made myself breakfast.

I made sure to take my birth control pill and the multi-vitamin Ranger left out for me, while I checked my email and the weather report on my phone.

When I couldn't stall any longer, I put on some lip-gloss, grabbed my bag and headed down to five.

Ranger was in his office and he looked up when he sensed someone was standing outside. He got up and walked towards me…and I walked towards him. He pulled me to him and kissed me. Thoughts of last night crept into my head, so I kissed him back and gave him a little tongue. I hoped that would keep him until I got back.

"Hey you two," someone called out from the hallway. "Can't leave you alone for two seconds." I turned around to look and saw Lester standing there, grinning like a fool and fanning himself with whatever it was he had in his hand. Showoff.

He needed to be taught a lesson, so I broke away from Ranger and went over to the door, and closed it in his face. Then I went back and snuggled into Ranger's arms.

"Beautiful, was that nice?" I heard from the other side of the door, along with laughter that wasn't Lester's. "I'll be in the break room when you're ready to go, but just so you know my mother's impatient. She won't wait all day."

I kissed Ranger goodbye one more time then headed out to find Lester. I couldn't come up with any more excuses and the sooner we got this over with, the better.

I still had the keys to Ranger's Cayenne, so we took that for the drive to Hopewell Township to pick up Les' mom and the shaman lady. And like the macho Rangeman Lester is, he put himself into the driver's seat once again. We took 295 North to 95 West and were at her house in about twenty minutes.

I had never met Lester's mother before and I was surprised that with a name like Elena she didn't look Latino at all. In fact she had red hair and green eyes. Guessed that's where Lester's green eyes came from.

"Where's the shaman?" I asked after Lester did introductions.

"She's in the powder room," Elena said. I heard a door open and turned around to see the 'seer' woman enter the room. Oh my God.


	5. Chapter 5—Things that Bump in the Night

_Blinky, Pinky, Inky and Clyde_

This takes place after "It's a new day, it's a new dawn, it's a new year"

A/N Thank you so much for reading along and for all your wonderful reviews. They really do keep me going. :) Thank you :)

M rating

Thank you Margaret for reading ahead as my Beta. :) I much appreciate :)

**Chapter 5—Things that go Bump in the Night**

"Artemis, this is my son Lester and a good friend of his, Stephanie Plum. Stephanie, Les, this is Artemis Fanoosian.

I didn't know what to say. She nodded to us as if it was the first time she met both of us, but there was a twinkle in her eye upon being introduced to me that let me know she recognized me.

"Artemis is a well-known shaman. She is someone who can see into the past, the future and into the world of the spirits. I met her about twelve years ago when Hugo and I were trying to clear a house we previously owned.

"When you and Les called yesterday asking about getting rid of spirits in that old house you and Ranger are interested in buying, she was the first person I thought about. I wasn't sure if you'd need professional help but I called her when we hung up and she wanted to meet you. She knows the estate you and Ranger are looking at and she believes you are dealing with some very old souls."

Artemis hadn't said anything yet, but she walked over to me, took my hands in hers and smiled at me. "I had to test you. If I didn't feel a connection, I wouldn't be able to help you. I see you are a good, trusting person and if you look into the well between your two front seats, you'll see I put back what I took."

"But how did you know?"

"How does anyone know anything? Let's head over to that house of yours."

We all piled into the Cayenne and true to Artemis' word, the quarters were back. I didn't want to think about how she _got_ them into the car and I really didn't want to think about how in the world she found _me_ in the middle of Trenton yesterday afternoon.

"I did a little research," Artemis said as we pulled out of Elena's driveway, "and I believe the spirit that touched you is Clyde Darby. We can look him up when we get back, but he seems to have had a reputation for being a ladies man."

"You have a computer?" I asked, the words just spewing out of my mouth almost in disbelief.

"Yes, I have a computer and access to some pretty sophisticated software. I needed to look practically homeless yesterday to get a true read on you. I'm sorry for any negative impressions you got."

"So you're not Armenian?"

"No I _am_ Armenian. I grew up there, but I've been in the United States since I'm a teenager. My family comes from a long line of Hayk gypsies and I learned a lot about what I know and use in my practice from them. Of course I couldn't do what I do without modern-day technology."

My grandmother would love this woman; I'd have to introduce them.

Lester had been uncharacteristically quiet since we arrived at his moms' house. I wondered what he was thinking so I looked over to him to see if he gave off any clues. He had his blank face in place and he seemed to be in a zone as he drove—so much for figuring out Lester.

I had the keys to the place in my bag, so as we got closer I dug around and handed them to Les so he could fob us through the gate. My hand touched his in the exchange and he patted it gently as if to say that everything would be ok. I sure hoped so.

Artemis and Elena seemed to be taking everything in as we drove up the small hill to the house.

"Pretty property," Elena said. "Those are mature Linden trees; they are one of the most medicinal trees you can find.

"The tree of lovers," Artemis added.

I guess this _would_ be a good place for Ranger and I…if we could only get rid of _Clyde_ and his friends.

We parked the car right in front and we all piled out. I immediately felt the frigid air surround me. I looked at Artemis to see if she felt it too. She didn't acknowledge my look and we walked up the steps and opened the front door. It wasn't locked…so much for security.

We walked in and that cold air suddenly blew the door shut. I was starting to feel like I was in a horror movie, so I reached back to make sure the house hadn't locked us in. It hadn't. I don't know why, but I suddenly reached for Lester.

"It's ok Beautiful, I'm not afraid of things that go bump in the night and I've done this before."

"You have?"

"Who do you think helped my mother clear our old house? My dad thought it was a lot of mumbo jumbo and my sister was deathly afraid of the spirits."

"So show me what to do and let's start."

Elena handed a smudge stick, a Bic lighter, a metal dish and a large feather to each of us. "One sage stick should be good for a few rooms, they burn slow. Use the dish to catch the ash so we don't start a fire. Artemis, do you want to take us through the ritual?"

"Yes, thank you," Artemis said taking over. "Before we start I want to explain a few things and why we do this particular exercise. Spirits feed off human emotion and one of the most powerful emotions is fear. Steph I know you are afraid of them, but you have to remember that they didn't break in here like a burglar with a gun, and they can't hurt you directly. Long-term contact with them is what zaps your life force and long-term contact with the fear they bring out in us is also harmful, so try to remain as calm as you can while you do this. Just remember the spirit does not have as much power over you as your own fear does."

She was scaring me shitless.

"Think of this as an antidote. I like to start by passing the smoke from the herbs over my own body and inhaling a little of it like this," she said, lighting the stick and then gently blowing out the flame to leave only the smoldering stick of sage, then passing it in front of her. "It helps to overcome any negativity."

The three of us also lit our smudge sticks and continued to listen to what Artemis had to say.

"We'll begin at the entrance and move counterclockwise so that we smoke out all four corners of a room. Open all closets and cupboards and smudge inside as well. Use your feather to push the smoke into the corners and under the furniture. I suggest we work together to secure each room. We'll want to make sure to smudge around the curtains too; we just need to watch out for sparks. If you notice any areas that particularly seem to have a lot of negative energy let me know, this is just the first step in getting rid of your spirits."

We systematically went through the house, smudging each and every room, opening doors and reaching into empty spaces. It wasn't until we were done with the main living areas and had only the attic, basement and servant quarters to do that my anxiety resurfaced.

"I don't know if I can go into that stairwell again," I told Artemis who was standing next to me.

"Why don't you and Elena take the attic and Lester and I will cover the servants rooms, staircases and basement. The attic is a much larger space to smudge so we should be done at about the same time."

I wasn't going to disagree with that thinking, so Elena and I each took another smudge stick and went up the pull-down stairs and into the attic.

Thankfully nothing grabbed at my ass as we worked.

Once we were done we closed up the attic and went back down to meet up with Artemis and Lester again. They were coming out of the servants' staircase just as we got to the foyer.

When we met up, Artemis spoke again.

"We need to seal the space that we have cleared. We also need to come back tomorrow and physically clean. The dust in any house is made up of about eighty to ninety percent dead skin flakes. Dust is not all about dirt — it's mostly about flesh. If we have dust from the previous owners here, then we have their connective tissue in the house. That's pieces of their DNA and this is a good enough reason for the spirits to stick around. Perhaps the previous owners' physical body is no longer in this house, but a _part_ _of it is_...those skin cells. So we need to get rid of them."

I was thoroughly creeped out.

"To seal the house," she continued, "I speak to it out loud, 'I have cleansed the negative energies in this space,'" she said, speaking loudly and looking up towards the ceiling, 'and nothing negative can exist here. This is for Stephanie and Ranger's highest good, and for the greatest good of all.'"

We walked out the front door and over to Ranger's Cayenne. Les fobbed open the doors for us and we piled in.

"Stephanie," Artemis began, "I have a cleaning service that I use to physically clean the place, I can contact them if you wish and they can come out here tomorrow. But if you prefer you can clean the place yourself. I'd suggest we use my service, they are used to dealing with unresolved entities."

"Um sure. I'd rather not clean."

Les had just started the car and was backing it up when I realized I left my bag in the house.

"Oh shit, I forgot my bag. I'll be right back."

I jumped out and walked towards the house. I opened the front door expecting to find my bag on the rickety table in the foyer, but it wasn't there. It took me a few seconds to realize I had been carrying it around with me while we went through the first few rooms. Where did I put it down?

I slowly walked through the living room, the dining room and into the kitchen and there I saw it sitting on the kitchen table. I went to reach for it when I heard a man's voice.

"Beau-ti-ful," it said slowly, annunciating every syllable.

"Lester, that's not funny," I said turning around half expecting to see Les' grin looking back at me. But there was no one there.

I grabbed my bag and I walked towards the front door. I remembered Artemis telling us how spirits feed off of human fear. So although I was afraid I'd already peed myself, I walked out of there as slowly and as calmly as I could. Once I closed the front door behind me, I ran to the car.

I guessed I was as pale as a ghost because the three of them looked at me and Les and Elena asked if I was ok.

"No," I said, not even trusting my voice. "It spoke to me. I was in the kitchen. I thought it was you Lester; it called me Beautiful. I've never been so scared in my whole life."

"That would have been a good opportunity to talk to the spirit and to tell it to leave," Artemis said.

"It caught me off guard. I didn't know what to say and Elena said she would coach me. I can't go back in there," I said starting to tremble.

"Beautiful, come here," Lester said putting the car into park and reaching over the console for me. He wasn't Ranger, but we were good friends and his arms felt secure around my shoulders.

"I can't do this," I said between sobs, when I could finally catch my breath.

"Yes you can," Artemis said from the back seat. "You have to. Not just for you and Ranger, but those spirits need to be set free. Someone needs to tell them that it is ok to go to the light. Give the place twenty-four hours. After the cleaning crew comes in tomorrow a lot of the negative energy should be gone. I'll come back with you tomorrow night and in the meantime I will take you through what I usually tell them. Let's go back to Elena's and have some lunch. After we've eaten I want you to do a little research on Clyde Darby, so you'll know just who, I believe you are dealing with. Then we can coach you on what to say tomorrow."

"I'm going to have to go back to work," Lester said, "but Ranger can pick you up in a few hours. His meeting with the mayor was at eleven."

"Les, please don't leave me," I pleaded, still holding him tightly around his neck.

He got as close to me as he could and whispered in my ear, "I know you want me Beautiful, but there are other ways to show it."

"Lester," I said, smacking him in the head. "You are_ impossible_."

"Made you laugh," he said. And that he did.

When I finally was able to let go of Lester so that he could drive back to Hopewell Township, he put the car into gear and we headed out. On the way, Artemis informed us that sometimes spirits don't know that they're dead and need to be told. And that's what she wanted us to do tomorrow.

"You never know what's going to happen though, they could get angry and start throwing things. Imagine what you would do if someone suddenly told you that you were dead?

"We need to wish them well, tell them to seek the light and move on to where they belong. You need to let them know that this is your house now and that they are no longer welcome. Tell them to leave. They can hear you. You can call Clyde by name, single him out. We can go over all of this again and you can take some notes. I promise to be there with you, but you have to do the talking. Clyde spoke to you. How would you feel if I spoke to you and Lester answered? You'd feel slighted. Well that's how he'll feel."

When she put it like that, it wasn't so scary.

Lester dropped us off at Elena's and he took the Cayenne back to Rangeman. He said he'd let Ranger know what was going on, but I decided I'd better call him anyway. I dug my phone out of my bag and I saw that I had three messages and a couple of texts.

The first message was from my mother, "This is your mother. I got a roast chicken for dinner and I was wondering if you and Ranger wanted to come over tonight. Let me know."

The second was a missed call; there was no one there.

The third call seemed to be the same as the first, either it was a missed call or it was from one of those call centers trying to sell me something. I'd have to check my status on the 'do not call list' again.

The first text was from 454-545. What was that? I'd never seen a 6-digit phone number before. I clicked it open to see what it was and it simply said "Reply HELP for help."

The second text was from Ranger, "Call me when UR done."

I went back to the first text and was staring at it when Artemis came over.

"You seem puzzled? Is something the matter?"

"I got this text while we were clearing the house. I've never seen a 6-digit phone number before." I gave her the phone.

"It says to reply HELP for help, did you try doing that?"

"No."

She typed HELP in the field and waited. Nothing happened so she gave me back my phone.

"Maybe it's one of those QR code things; sometimes I just don't understand technology."

I gave up trying to figure it out and called Ranger.

"Babe. How did it go?"

"He spoke to me."

"_Who_ spoke to you?"

"The ghost. He called me beautiful. I thought it was Lester, but Lester was outside. I was all freaked out until Artemis, that's the shaman's name, explained some things to me and I'm ok now. She's coming with me tomorrow night to talk to Clyde."

"Who's Clyde?"

"Clyde Darby. He's one of the ghosts. He's the one that spoke to me and grabbed my ass. Artemis says he's a ladies man."

"Well I'm glad you two seem to have this all figured out. See if you can keep Artemis there until I arrive. When will you be done?"

"Les' mom made lunch and then I wanted to do a little research, so I'd say I'd be ready around two. You don't mind?"

"Babe you have to get home somehow and I want to meet this shaman. I have something of interest to show the both of you."

"Do you know how to get here?"

"I'll see you at two," and he was gone.

I opened my laptop and typed Clyde Darby into one of my standard search programs. It usually takes about a half an hour to come up with anything, so while it was thinking I googled Clyde to see if it brought up anything else.

What came up totally creeped me out. There was some role-playing game called Supernatural: Unforgiven which was based on a TV show and a guy named Clyde Darby was a vampire.

"Uh, he's not a vampire is he?" I asked Artemis, taking the napkins and silverware that Elena brought out from the kitchen and setting the table.

"No! Here give me that," Artemis said, "you have to google 'Clyde Darby in history, New Jersey,' he pops right up.

"Oh, ok, here he is," I said going back to my laptop and putting in the right criteria. Clyde Nathaniel Darby. Born August 15, 1903. Died Sept 22, 1946. Wow he was only forty…uh…three years old when he died," I said, realizing he wasn't an old man and trying to do the math in my head.

"He was being investigated by the FBI for bootlegging, although it was never proven," I added reading further. "He was one of the forerunners for the repeal of prohibition. He founded the AAPA, the Association Against the Prohibition Amendment when he was twenty-three years old. Wow. Maybe we should have brought him some moonshine."

"He and his older brother ran one of the many speakeasies in Trenton." Artemis said, reciting from memory. "Jersey was a wet state until an amendment made alcohol illegal and then Clyde and his brother Elliot went underground.

"He was thirty when the amendment was repealed, but he and Elliot had already made a name and millions for themselves. He bought your property right after the repeal from Edward Harriman, the railroad baron who built the place.

"Clyde was a confirmed bachelor whose name was attached to many of the movie starlets of his time. Hedy Lamarr being the most famous. And if you'll google Hedy Lamarr, you'll immediately see a striking similarity between you and her."

"No we don't look alike at all," I said googling Hedy and hitting 'images.' "Oh shit," I said, seeing old black and white pictures of a curly-haired brunette with light, probably blue, eyes filling my screen.

I put the laptop aside in denial when Elena brought out sandwich makings and a few simple salads.

"Thank you so much Elena," I said, "you didn't have to do this."

"You're welcome, but I wanted to. You're a good friend of Lester's and Ranger has been there for him whenever he needed him. It's the least I can do."

I put some ham and cheese on a roll and took a scoop each of potato salad and cole slaw. Thankfully we didn't talk about the spirits while we ate.

We had just finished cleaning up when Elena's doorbell rang. It was Ranger with his laptop and some other electronics equipment. I guessed whatever he had in mind required a show and tell.

He kissed Elena hello and she invited him in. His face lit up when he saw me and after putting his equipment down on the table he came over, pulled me in close and kissed me hello. Thankfully no tongue in front of Artemis and Lester's mom.

I introduced him to Artemis and then asked about the laptop.

"I had Hector and Hal install some infrared cameras at the house yesterday and they sent back some images last night and early this morning that I think you'd be interested in seeing. I'm a skeptic," he continued, "I don't believe in ghosts, but these images certainly amazed me. I need a few minutes to set up. Keep doing what you were doing until I'm ready."

"Can I help?" I asked, anxious to see what he had to show us.

"I don't have much battery power left and video will just eat up what there is, if you could find an outlet to plug this into that would help a lot."

I asked. "Um, sure." I found an extra outlet by a lamp and plugged the brick into it. "Ok, you're ready."

"Alright, this is the infrared video from last night. Hector spliced it together to move it along faster, but there has been no retouching whatsoever done to this."

Ranger turned his laptop on and gave us a little background. "All objects emit a certain amount of radiation as a function of their temperatures. Generally speaking, the higher an object's temperature the more infrared radiation it gives off. Infrared cameras detect this radiation similarly to the way a regular camera detects light. I'm probably being too technical; think of this as brightest is warmest, and dimmest is coolest. I'm just going to let it run."

The first few seconds were of the staircase on the main floor. It's a beautiful old wooden staircase that wound up from the central hall. Suddenly a pale light moved into focus at the top of the stairway and appeared to move down the stairs. Cut to another angle from a different camera. A pale blue light moved across the landing and a stronger light broke into it and moved through it. Cut again…to the kitchen this time. There _I _was reaching for my bag on the kitchen counter. I turned around to face a vaporous light that moved towards me and then out of my way as I grabbed my bag and walked out of the kitchen. I look terrified.

"Stop. That's when he spoke to me. Ranger? I'm, I'm…not sure I can look at this anymore. Artemis?"

"I think the infrared cameras have caught four distinct spirits. The last, and obviously the strongest because he's the brightest, is Clyde. Can I get a copy of this? I saw some things I'd like to get a closer look at."


	6. Chapter 6—Dead Ringer

_Blinky, Pinky, Inky and Clyde_

This takes place after "It's a new day, it's a new dawn, it's a new year"

A/N Thank you so much for reading along and for all your wonderful reviews. They really do keep me going. :) Thank you :)

M rating

Thank you Margaret for reading ahead as my Beta. :) I much appreciate :)

**Chapter 6—Dead Ringer**

"Babe, I'd like Hector to run with this. I know you usually do our searches, but I think you're too close to this one. I hope you don't mind that I already asked him to look into some things."

"Have him check out Hedy Lamarr. Artemis says she was one of Clyde's girlfriends. I googled her and she does have a quasi-resemblance to me."

"Quasi? Babe you should look at yourself in a mirror next to her pictures. Other than her too tweezed eyebrows you could be a dead ringer.

"I'm not that pretty, but thank you."

"Don't sell yourself short. And to me you are even _more_ beautiful."

Artemis was listening to our little back and forth and smiling. "I'm sorry. Stephanie, you _do_ look like her… same hair, same bone structure. You are _both_ beautiful. I think you even have the similar backgrounds. She was Austrian and Hungarian and you are Hungarian and Italian."

I was shocked that she knew that much about me.

"And maybe I can help," Artemis added. "I did a little research on your house. That's how I found out about Clyde and Hedy Lamarr. I was intrigued by that combination, so I took this out of the library," she said going over to her bag and pulling out a book.

"_Hedy's Folly_, by Richard Rhodes," I read out loud.

"Not only was Hedy a beautiful woman and a talented actress," Artemis continued, "she was also a gifted mathematician and inventor. While other actresses turned to directing when they were looking to do more, she put her talents to work creating things that would change the face of the world.

"She created and owned the patent on an early technique for frequency hopping-spread spectrum which was the forerunner of what we use in our current day wireless communications. She also invented a missile-controlled submarine guidance system and a fizzing cube that could turn plain water into soda."

"No way?" I said, taking the book from her and leafing through it. I randomly picked a page and started reading.

"She liked mathematical anomalies," it says. "She was drawn to 33 1/3 because as a decimal the number never ends. It's 33.3333 ad infinitum. She also liked the number forty-five. The sum of the first nine numbers placed in increasing or decreasing order, 123456789 and 987654321, adds up to 45. And the difference between these numbers gives a result of nine digits, 864197532, which also add up to 45. She was a strange person," I said looking up from the book and into the very quizzical face of Artemis.

"Stephanie, can I see your phone?" she asked. "Remember you got a puzzling text message while we were at the house?"

I went over to my bag and pulled out my phone. "Yeah, a text from a six-digit number. There are no six-digit numbers." I opened my phone to the strange text message and handed it over. Both Artemis and Ranger looked at it.

"Babe, although this looks like the beginning of a phone number 454-545, it is actually the number 45 three times. Given Hedy's strange obsession with the number forty-five and the decimal three, I'd say someone is tying to play games with you," he intimated, looking over at Artemis.

Now I was totally creeped out.

"Can I have Hector look into this?" he asked, continuing. "I'd like to know where that text originated from and anything else he can tell us about it."

"Sure, here take it," I said handing my phone to Ranger.

"I don't need it Babe, Hector has your phones IP address; he can do everything remotely."

He took his phone out of his pocket and called Hector.

"Can you check out Steph's phone and let me know where a recent text originated from. The last text is from me, I'm interested in the one before it." "Thanks man."

Artemis looked over at Ranger. "In case you think I had anything to do with this, I can assure you I didn't. Have your man look at my phone too, in fact here look at it yourself, you'll see I sent no texts at all today, or even yesterday for that matter."

She went into her purse and produced a flip phone similar to the one I used to have until Ranger upgraded me. To send texts from those phones you needed fingers the size of my niece Mary Alice's.

Ranger took her phone and called Hector back. "While you're checking, this is the IP address of Artemis Fanoosian's cell phone. Can you check to make sure no texts were sent from this phone over the last couple of days and also check to see if there are any other cellphones issued in her name and if there are, check for texts sent by them too?"

"It's not that I don't trust _you_," Ranger said to Artemis after he disconnected with Hector, "I don't trust _anyone_. And I don't like my fiancé being played."

"As I said, I did not send that text."

"I didn't either," Elena added. "Have Hector check my phone too. I'm pretty sure he can do that easily, it's a Rangeman issued phone."

"Let's see what comes back from Steph's phone first. Calls and texts _to_ a phone are relatively easy to access; Hector should get back to us momentarily. Meanwhile I'd like to see what other information you've pulled up on the house. You said you did a background check?" he asked Artemis.

Ranger can be intimidating, but she didn't seem to be intimidated by him at all. I was glad for that. I liked her and I didn't want us not to be friends because my fiancé scared her off.

"Yes, I printed out what came up in case we needed it. I have it in my bag." She went back to her oversized bag, pulled out some black and white printouts and handed them to Ranger.

We spent about ten minutes looking over the previous owners of the house. The railroad tycoon Edward Harriman bought the land in March of 1884 and the house was completed in October of 1886. He lived there with his family until Clyde Darby bought the place from him in September of 1934. Darby owned the place until his death on September 22, 1946…a total of twelve years.

As Darby never married and had no heirs, the place went to his brother Elliot, who sold it to the Sweeney family. George Sweeney, his wife Mary and their children Michael and Margaret lived in the house until the children married and moved out. Sweeney then sold the place to his nephew, Martin Sweeney. Martin's wife Mary Margaret contracted diphtheria and died from complications in 1965. Their daughter Margaret Ann also contracted the disease and died the following year. Martin Sweeney kept the place but became a recluse. He stayed in the house until his passing in 2002. The house has been vacant since his death and the property fell to the state when the unpaid property taxes multiplied.

Ranger's phone rang just as I was finishing reading the house's history. It was Hector. Ranger put his phone on speaker so we could hear what he came up with.

"The text was sent from an unlicensed spectrum in the 900 MHz range…a frequency outside of the FCC bandwidth. Whoever sent that text either knew what they were doing or somehow jammed the waves. I can't explain how it was done, but I'd love to learn. It could make our communications undetectable."

Ranger had his answer. It wasn't Artemis or Elena, but some unknown entity that knew how to jam radio waves.

I was thinking it was Clyde. And I was also thinking that the three weaker spirits in the house were Martin Sweeney, Mary Margaret Sweeney and Margaret Ann Sweeney, husband, wife and daughter.

"One other thing," Hector went on, "the calling number was 45454545 ad infinitum; it wasn't limited to a 6, 7 or 10 digit number."

I got chills throughout my body.

"Call me crazy," I said, "but I'm telling you it was Clyde."

"Chica, who's Clyde?" Hector asked from the other end of the phone.

"Clyde Darby used to own the house we're looking at. Ranger said he asked you to run a search on the place; he'll pop up. So will Hedy Lamarr. I'd be interested in your take, seeing that you know about the video and now about my mysterious text message. If you come to the same conclusion I have we'll have to convince Ranger. Call us when you have something."

"Ok," and he hung up.

"Babe are you ready to head back to Trenton?"

"Oh shit, I forgot all about calling my mother back. She invited us for dinner tonight. You can't make it, can you?"

"If it's important to you, I can be there."

"I'd like to find out what my grandmother knows about the Sweeneys. I don't think she's old enough to remember Clyde, but she probably knows something about old man Sweeney."

"Ok, then call her back and let's head over there."

"Artemis, can we drop you somewhere?" Ranger asked, all sweet and nice.

"Thank you, but I have my car." She paused before continuing. "You know, I usually like to have just the person that the spirit has reached out to be the one to speak with them, but I'll make an exception in your case. I think it might be beneficial for both of you to join me tomorrow night."

"My desire is to keep Stephanie as safe as possible and if that means my being at the house, I can arrange to be there. Do you have a time?"

"What is the time code on your video from last night, the first time you noticed Clyde?"

"I'll have to ask Hector, he spliced it together."

Ranger took out his phone and called Hector while I called my mother. My call wasn't as exciting as his, so I hung up as soon as I could."

All I heard from Ranger's conversation was, "Um. Ok," and he hung up. Damn. I wanted to know what Hector had to say.

"So?" I said to try to elicit an answer.

"He said he had to look and would call me right back. He only spliced in the segment from this morning because you were in it. He said there were earlier phosphorous displays."

"You're not going to acknowledge them as ghosts, are you? You are _so_ stubborn."

"Babe."

We waited around for Hector to call Ranger back so we could set up a time with Artemis. Ranger did have a business to run so I wanted to be as considerate of his time as possible. I was just about to call Hector myself when Ranger's phone rang.

"Ok thanks." The three of us looked at him for an explanation on that one.

"Hector said the first time he noticed the large phosphorous display was at 9:42 PM last night.

"Ok let's meet at the house at nine tomorrow night then. That'll give Clyde a chance to realize we're there and he may come to us first. I'd prefer it that way; and he did approach Stephanie when she was by herself this morning."

"It's ok, I'm used to being bait," I said matter-of-factly.

Everything was in place for tomorrow night and Ranger and I got into his turbo for the drive back to Trenton.

"So what if Artemis accepted your ride, where would you put her?"

"I saw a car that didn't belong to the Santos' parked in their driveway, I was just being nice."

"But what if she took you up on it anyway?"

"You can fit in the back Babe."

"Thanks pal." I actually wasn't angry with him; I just wanted to bust his balls a little. He could least _acknowledge_ Clyde.

It was five thirty when we got into Trenton. There probably was enough time to stop off at Rangeman first and change, but dinner at the Plum's wasn't a formal affair. It was more like a hit and run. Be there at six sharp, eat, then run. The good thing, besides getting some information out of grandma would be the leftover goodie bag. There is no dessert at Rangeman. And yes, that would have to change.

Grandma was at the door when we arrived. I'd have to figure out a way to get between her and Ranger; those hands of hers were fast. And if I wanted him to come with me to dinner more than once a year, I'd have to make sure grandma didn't cop a feel. I guessed I could try the direct approach.

"Grandma, no touching. Ranger is off-limits," I said in lieu of hello.

"Spoil sport. How come you didn't bring another one of those nice young muscle-bound men for me? I like that cute one with the buzz cut that blushes all the time."

"Hal?"

"Yeah, think you can fix me up?"

"How about you tell us what you know about George and Martin Sweeney and I'll see what I can do," I said winking at Ranger.

"I didn't know too much about George, but Martin was a real looker. I was sure he was going to ask me out after his wife died, but then he never came out of the house. The last time I saw him was at Stiva's for his daughter's funeral. I heard after that he had all his meals delivered to him."

"What else can you tell me?"

"He used to wear a big old railroad watch. Heard he found it in the house. Said it belonged to that railroad magnet who built the place. Funny they call them magnets; wonder if it's because they have magnetic personalities? I'd like to find me one of them railroad magnets."

"Magnate, grandma, not magnet."

"That's what I said. Railroad magnet."

My dad came over to the door while we were talking. It takes a lot to get him out of his Lazy Boy. Guessed he heard something he thought he could add to.

"Hey Pumpkin. Ranger. Did I hear you talking about fixing up your grandmother with a railroad man?" I guessed the prospect of marrying my grandmother off and getting her out of his house was enough to get my dad's butt out of his chair.

"No. I just asked her what she knew about George and Martin Sweeney, the uncle and nephew who owned the Sweeney estate in Ewing and grandma was telling us what a looker Martin was."

"Oh. Your Grandma Plum knew the Sweeneys."

"She did? Is it ok if I call her? Do you think Aunt Mim will mind?"

Aunt Mim is Vinnie's mother, my Grandma Plum's daughter-in-law and _keeper_. I say that with a smile on my face. Maybe. When Grandpa Plum died, she just took over and she likes to keep things from my grandmother. She says it's for health reasons; I say it's selfish. Anyway, I'm one of the things she keeps from Grandma Plum. She says my antics are bad for her heart, but I think I have a good heart. Obviously we disagree.

"You know I don't care _what_ Aunt Mim thinks. Call her," my dad said in response to my question.

"Thanks dad. I'll call her after we eat. I can see Aunt Mim making her go to bed at 7:30. Aunt Mim is probably the reason Vinnie is like he is. Jeez."

My mother came out from the kitchen wiping her hands on her apron, just in time to hear my last comment.

"Stephanie! Is that a nice thing to say about your aunt?"

"Sorry mom, but she's never had a nice thing to say about me."

"She just thought you put pressure on your cousin to give you a job."

"I did. Vinnie's such a sleaze. He wouldn't have given me anything if I didn't threaten him. I knew about the duc..."

"Stephanie!" my father yelled, taking me out of payback time.

"Val, Albert and the girls are going to the mall tonight," my mother told us, "It's just us. Come sit down before the chicken dries out."

Ranger hadn't said a word, but the twinkle in his eye told me he was enjoying the show.

Dinner was uneventful. Grandma didn't shoot at the roast chicken. My mom_ was_ tippling, but she didn't seem to have an imbibed take on anything and my dad was as quiet as ever. In fact if there was a contest between Ranger and my dad to see who said more, I think they'd tie.

After dinner I made a beeline for the phone. My thinking was, if I called Grandma Plum from my parents' phone Aunt Mim would think it was my mom and answer. She'd never pick up a call from me.

My thinking proved correct and after listening to Aunt Mim complain about all her aches and pains she handed the phone over to my grandmother.

"Stephanie, how nice to hear from you. I understand you just got engaged to that nice detective. How wonderful."

"Grandma, Joe and I broke up over Christmas. I know this is gong to seem sudden but I got engaged to Ranger. The owner of Rangeman security? Carlos Manoso?"

"Yes dear. I know Carla Manos, such a lovely woman. She runs that nail salon on Hamilton, doesn't she? I didn't realize you tuned the other cheek."

"No grandma. Carlos. Carlos Manoso. Rangeman."

"I'm sorry I can't hear you. Carla manned what?"

I decided to just give up. "Grandma, did you know George and Martin Sweeney?"

"Yes, you got engaged to Martin Sweeney? I thought he passed away? I'm glad I heard wrong. Such a nice young man."

It wasn't worth any more effort. My grandmother was hard of hearing and probably suffering from a little hardening of the arteries. And even if she weren't, Aunt Mim was probably feeding her bullshit from across the room.


	7. Chapter 7—Dead Men walking

_Blinky, Pinky, Inky and Clyde_

This takes place after "It's a new day, it's a new dawn, it's a new year"

A/N Thank you so much for reading along and for all your wonderful reviews. They really do keep me going. :) Thank you :)

M rating

Thank you Margaret for reading ahead as my Beta. :) I much appreciate :)

**Chapter 7—Dead Men Walking**

We left my parents' house after that futile call. I was armed with some leftover pineapple upside down cake and Ranger was just, well...armed. As soon as we pulled away from the curb, Ranger's phone buzzed. He took it from his pocket and dropped it into the hands-free device.

"Speak."

"Hola boss. Is Estefania with you?" It was Hector. "Tell her to take a look at her text messages."

I dug through my bag for my phone and pulled it out. I had three new texts from that 454-545 number. "Clyde," I said and Ranger flashed me a look.

"Sí. Can you read the texts out loud?"

"Uh the first one was sent four minutes ago. It says, 'lovely.' The second was sent two minutes after that. It says, 'will I see you again?' and the last one was just sent. It says 'tomorrow?'"

"I think I have a date with a ghost," I added smiling, although Hector couldn't see me.

"Are they coming from that same unlicensed frequency?" Ranger asked.

"Sí. Want me to call the shaman lady and meet you at the house?"

"No," I answered. "My date with him is for tomorrow. I should at least honor his wishes, and come when he asks me too. Don't you think?"

"If we show up unannounced we may be able to surprise him."

"Wait. Let me text him back and see what happens."

I responded to the first text with 'Clyde?' and I waited. Nothing. Then I tried the final text that mentioned tomorrow. 'Can I come now?'

Two seconds later my phone buzzed with a response. 'Ok.'

"Ranger! Hector! He answered me. He said it's ok to come now. Hector can you call Artemis and meet us at the house?"

"I thought you were afraid of him Babe? You seem awfully anxious to meet him."

"He's a pussycat. How can you be afraid of that? And he invited me."

"I'll bring some recording equipment," Hector replied. "The cameras are in place. Boss, should I bring some night vision goggles? We probably could see him if we used infrared, like our cameras."

"You sound just as excited as Stephanie. What am I missing?"

"Well it's not everyday we get to talk to a ghost. You ready Chica?"

"Yes. How long will it take you to get there?"

"I'll call the shaman now and get her out of bed if I have to. She's in Trenton. I'll pick her up and we can be there in maybe half an hour?"

"Ok. Against my better judgment, I'll meet you at the gate," Ranger mumbled.

"Ranger, are you jealous?" I asked.

"No," he said, going into shutdown mode. "You can't feel emotion for something that doesn't exist."

"Oh but he does Ranger. He may not be like you and me, but he definitely exists."

"You, Hector and Santos. I'm surprised he's not calling you now too."

Speak of the devil. My phone rang just as Ranger mentioned Lester's name.

"Hey Beautiful. I asked Hector to let me know if we got anymore blips on the screen and he just emailed me that you and Clyde have been texting?"

"I have a date with him and Ranger's jealous," I said out loud, looking right at my fiancé.

"Can I come too? I can help Hector with the recording."

I looked over at Ranger before responding. If this were standard operating procedure, there would be two Rangeman in every vehicle. But this was anything but standard.

"Does your backup protocol work for ghosts too?"

"Oh for God's sake. Tell him to meet us at the gate or hitch a ride with Hector and Artemis. Dios. The lot of you are delusional."

"You're just jealous because a ghost has a crush on me. I'm going to have to set him straight; I'm not who he thinks I am."

"Artemis said you're going to have to tell him that he's dead. That should go over real well. He seems to have an ego."

Look who's talking?

When we got to the gate Hector and Artemis were in a Rangeman SUV and Lester was in his Mustang.

"Beautiful, we're expecting some snow tonight. I'm hoping for an in and out with you; this car is terrible in bad weather. But it's a museum piece, and women seem to like it," he added with a wink.

"Lester, I love this car. It reminds me of a car Val's friend had in high school—and it was a museum piece _then_.

"Chica, I've been monitoring this house the whole way here. All four spirits are active. Are you ready for this?" Hector asked; taking me out of my musings and back into the real reason we were here in the first place.

"Artemis? You said I just needed to talk to _Clyde_. What about the others? And is there anything I need to know before we go in? How should I start this conversation? Will he speak back to me?"

"Introduce yourself. Introduce us. He _may_ speak to you; I'm not sure if we're all here. He's spoken to _you_ before. As Hector's video showed us, Clyde is the brightest of the four spirits. He very likely has the most power. Speak directly to him, the others will hear, but I doubt they can answer or interact with you."

"Ok. I guess I'm as ready as I'll ever be."

Ranger fobbed the gate open and our little caravan headed up the hill. Ranger and I were in the lead with the turbo. When we got to the house, all three cars parked in front and we got out. Hector took a few pair of night vision goggles out of the Rangeman SUV and we climbed the few stairs to the front door.

Again it was unlocked. Trusting spirits.

As soon as we opened the door I could smell the smoky sage from our earlier smudging. Obviously that did little to make the ghosts feel unwelcome.

"Hi Clyde," I said as we entered and put our stuff down in the living room. "It's Stephanie Plum. Uh, you invited me."

I turned and looked at Hector who was wearing night vision goggles and he prompted me to continue. I wasn't sure if Clyde was in the room with us, but I went on.

"I think you may have mistaken me for someone else, someone you once knew and I think cared about. I'm not her. I'm not Hedy, but I'm very happy to make your acquaintance. I want you to meet my friends and then I, uh, have a couple of uh, things I want to tell you."

I turned to my right and took Ranger's hand.

"Clyde, this is my fiancé Carlos Manoso. We call him Ranger and he's the owner of Rangeman Security." I reached for Lester next, taking him by the arm. If I was going to have to have conversations with spirits, I wanted a living, breathing person with me at all times.

"And this is my friend Lester Santos. Lester sometimes works with me and he's one of Ranger's top men." I kept going, keeping my arm on Les, but bringing Artemis and Hector into the fold. "And this is Artemis Fanoosian. She's a shaman and this man with the goggles is Hector Santiago. He's a good friend who also works for Ranger. He's into technology."

So far no one grabbed my ass, spoke to me or sent icy cold chills down my spine.

"Now that you've met everyone," I continued, "I want to tell you a couple of things. Um, Ranger and I bought this place and we wanted to call it home. But the building inspector condemned it, so we're going to have to tear it down. You won't be able to live here any longer. I'm hoping you'll leave on your own when I tell you the second part of my story, but if you don't I'm going to have to let you know that you won't be welcome here much longer.

"Clyde, you're dead. This is 2013 and you died in 1946. Artemis tells me that there is a light that you can see that has been beckoning to you for years. Clyde, it's time to go to the light. It's your destiny and you'll be much happier."

I decided that since nothing bad had happened yet I'd just give him a little more information.

"Tomorrow we're having a cleaning crew come in here and thoroughly clean the place. Whatever is holding you to this house will be eliminated. Artemis and I will come back tomorrow night and at that time, I hope to find that you and the Sweeneys have moved on. I know you can hear me and I know you can communicate with me through my cell phone. I have it with me if you want to say anything to me before you go," I added bravely.

I took my phone out of my bag, half expecting to see a couple of texts from Clyde, but there was nothing.

"We're going to leave now," I added. "It was nice meeting you."

I turned towards the door when an icy wind blew past me and knocked over the lamp that was on the table. Artemis mentioned that spirits could get very angry when you tell them they are no longer living.

I wasn't quite sure what to do, so I looked to Artemis for help.

"Tell him again," she prodded. "And then we'll leave."

I nodded that I'd give it another try. "Clyde you really are dead and there is a better place for you if you go to the light. You're just not welcome to stay here with Ranger and me. We're getting married and we'd like to start a life together here…but not with you and the Sweeneys. I hope you can understand and will leave on your own. Text me if you need me," I added more like I was talking to Mary Lou or one of the guys. "Bye Clyde."

I turned towards the door again and then I heard it, quite distinctly for that matter.

"No."

It wasn't the forceful 'no' that I would use if I were disagreeing with someone; it was more of a pleading 'no,' like he wanted to stay. At least that was the way I took it. So I tried something that usually worked with me.

"Please."

I waited for further comment from Clyde and when there was none, I looked at my phone…nothing there either. I turned toward the door again and this time nothing stopped me. Ranger, Les, Hector and Artemis followed me out and we closed the door behind us.

Tomorrow would be telling as to whether this worked or not.

"Let's meet at the gate," Artemis said as we got into our cars.

It had just started to snow, so I was sure Lester wouldn't want to stay long. And for that matter neither did I. I was drained from my little conversation with Clyde.

We drove to the gate and we got out. The wind had started to pick up along with the snow so we took shelter in the Explorer.

"I think that went well," Artemis began. "For a minute I thought he was going to have a little temper tantrum, but your 'please' seemed to work."

"I picked that up from real life. It usually works with me. What time should I meet you here tomorrow?"

"Hector, are you going to keep the cameras on tonight? I'd like to see if there is any more activity before the morning. The crew will be here at nine and I thought we could come by in the afternoon. Say two o'clock?"

"Sí, the cameras will be on until we start demolition. I'll email all of you if there is any activity toward the morning."

"Ok then, I'll see you at two tomorrow."

Ranger, Les and I went back to our cars and Ranger fobbed us out. And although I didn't want him prying into my life, I was thinking I was going to miss Clyde.

"Proud of you Babe." Ranger said, buckling me in and placing a lingering kiss on my forehead.

"Thank you. That wasn't the easiest conversation I've ever had."

"I'm not sure if you noticed, but Hector, Santos and I were wearing our night vision goggles. I was watching the phosphorous display as you were speaking to Clyde. It got brighter when you told him he was dead and brightest just before the gust of wind blew over the lamp. I think somehow he harnesses energy and uses it to his advantage. I hope the cameras picked that up; you would enjoy the display and I'd like a professional to look at it. Not that I don't trust Artemis, but…well, I don't trust anyone."

"Who are you sending it to?"

"Jeffrey Fishbourne. He's the top parapsychologist in the world and he lives in London. Tank gave me his name and we've been emailing each other. He asked to see the tapes so I thought I'd add this to what I was planning to send him. He actually agrees with everything you've been doing and thinks we'll be successful getting rid of the spirits."

"Do you believe now?"

"I guess I have no choice. I was there when he spoke to you and I saw the energy displays. I have nothing else to attribute it to…so spirits it is."

Somehow I felt like I'd won this one.

We drove back to Trenton pretty much in silence. Something in my heart ached. I guess it was a feeling for Clyde. He was going to be homeless if he didn't follow my–well no, it was Artemis' advice–to seek the light. I hoped he was rational.

"Deep thoughts?" Ranger asked as we pulled into the garage at Rangeman.

"Not really. More worry. What will happen to them? You know once Clyde heads toward the light that Artemis mentioned. I hope it doesn't make him, um, dead? For a dead guy he seems so alive. Know what I mean?"

"Actually I do. You handled that well. It could have really backfired in your face, but you gave him all the answers before he asked for them and he took it well after his initial backlash."

"Can we go upstairs and not think about this?"

"Are you ok?"

"Hold me. Make love to me."

"Babe?"

"I guess I need to feel a real flesh and blood human next to me."

Ranger came over to my side of the car and opened the door for me. He helped me out and I fell into his arms. He pulled me close to him and he kissed me. I ran my hands over his perfect ass and pulled him in tighter.

"Mmmmm Babe, let's go upstairs. The guys don't need any more of a show."

Shit. I forgot all about those damn cameras.

We buzzed the elevator and it must have been on two as it came right down. We got in and Ranger moved to the back, pulling me to him. My back was to his front and he put both his arms around me cocoon-style. I reached my hands up to touch him and we just held each other, his lips on my head, until we disembarked on seven. I was pretty sure it was as much to hold me as close as humanly possible as it was to hide a little suggestive-something from the guys on monitor duty.

Once we fobbed in and put our stuff down on the credenza in the foyer, Ranger pulled me to him.

"You want to be close Babe?" he asked, moving my hair off my shoulders and kissing that tender spot near my neck.

"Mmmm Ranger, closer." He moved us towards the wall and inserted his leg between mine, kissing me again. Plenty of tongue. Oh my God.

I don't know how long we stood there kissing and touching but when we broke apart we were breathless.

"Close enough?" Ranger asked, probably the only words he could get out.

"No."

He scooped me up and carried me into the bedroom, shedding some clothes along the way.

Ranger threw me down on the bed and just looked at me with a full 200-watt smile on his face. He stripped and then little by little removed whatever remaining clothes I had on. Now Ranger is a fabulous lover and never leaves me wishing for more so as he licked and kissed his way down my body, I could feel that something wasn't right.

"Ranger what's the matter?"

"I'm sorry Babe. I didn't think you'd pick up on it, but I guess you know me too well."

"Ranger talk to me."

"We got our test results back from Bobby. He wants you to be on penicillin for seven days."

"STD? From Joe?"

"Most likely."

"HIV positive?"

"No Babe. Chlamydia. I filled the prescription for you. You can start taking it tonight."

"And what about you?"

"I'm clean."

"Shit. What did Bobby say? Is it serious? Am I going to die?"

"Babe. Come here."

Ranger pulled me close and held me while he spoke.

"You're not going to die. About three million people in the U.S. test positive for Chlamydia every year. One course of antibiotics should be enough to knock it out of your system and then you'll be fine. Bobby will need to test you again and then you should be tested after three months to make sure it's totally gone. Until then we'll use condoms."

"What about you? You know you like to um, oral, um. Can't you catch it?"

"No Babe. I asked. Bobby says it's very rare to be transmitted through oral sex. And I tested negative to everything. But I think you need to let Morelli know that he's a carrier."

"Fuck. This is not going to be pretty. I'd rather talk to Clyde."

Chapter 8


	8. Chapter 8—It's the Living You Have to Wa

_Blinky, Pinky, Inky and Clyde_

This takes place after "It's a new day, it's a new dawn, it's a new year"

A/N Thank you so much for reading along and for all your wonderful reviews. They really do keep me going. :) Thank you :)

M rating

**Thank you Margaret** for reading ahead as my Beta. :) I much appreciate :)

**And** her insistence that Joe is just a **man 'ho**, spurred me on :)

Don't own the characters (except for Clyde), just playing :)

**Chapter 8—It's the Living You Have to Watch Out For**

As anyone who knows me knows, my denial mechanism is very strong. I was deep into denial about Joe having given me an STD. And I was deeper into denying that I had to call him and let him know. I know, not a good coping strategy.

Ranger and I spoke about it again this morning and I agreed to call Joe. But for me, it was easier said than done and I've been sitting at the breakfast bar with my phone in my hand for the last ten minutes.

Ranger asked me if I wanted him with me when I called Morelli. I told him it wasn't necessary so he went downstairs to get in a workout. Maybe I should have gone with him?

OK, I could do this; I picked up my phone and fingered my way down to the J's. J for Joe. Before I chickened out, I hit his number and let the phone ring.

I figured if he didn't answer on three rings, I was good to go and could hang up, but much to my alarm, he picked up after two.

"Cupcake?"

"Hey Joe."

"Is everything ok?"

"Well since you put it like that. Um, yes and no."

"Manoso hasn't hurt you, has he?"

"Oh no Joe, nothing like that, but um, shit this is hard."

"Cupcake what's the matter? Are we pregnant?"

"Joe, hold on. I…I…I have to call you back." I said hanging up the phone and running to Ranger's bathroom to throw up. The way my body was reacting maybe I was pregnant? Please God no.

I was hanging over the bowl, heaving again when I felt someone lift my hair off my neck and hold it while I vomited one more time.

"Babe are you ok?"

"I'm sorry Ranger. I called Joe and he asked if he and I were pregnant. Just like with Val, I dropped the phone and came in here to…oh God…" And I puked again.

Once I was able to get myself under control, had splashed some water on my face and brushed my teeth, I asked the most pressing thing on my mind.

"Ranger, when Bobby did all those tests on us, did he test to see if I might be pregnant too?"

"Yes Babe."

"And…?"

"You're not."

"Oh Thank God," I said, relief flooding into my voice.

"I'm pretty sure this is just from anxiety," Ranger went on. "You've been under a lot of stress lately. Babe, are you going to be ok if I leave you alone? Tank and I have to see a couple of clients in Philly. I'll be gone most of the day."

"I'll be ok. I think it was just the thought of carrying Morelli's baby."

"Babe. Just take it easy. I know you picked up a few FTA files from Connie. Promise me if you decide to go after anyone today you'll take someone along. Brett has a light day, I'm sure he wouldn't mind riding with you."

"I have to do some more legwork before I'm ready to make an apprehension. I was planning on spending most of my day on the computer or talking to people in the 'Burg. I'll be fine."

"Ok. I'll see you later then," and he pulled me in for a kiss. And by the kind of kiss it was, I could tell he wasn't all that happy about leaving me.

"I'll be fine," I said again, as he put his gun into the shoulder holster under the Armani jacket he was wearing and looked at me skeptically.

"If you do decide to go after one of your skips, please take Brett."

"I will. I promise."

Ranger kissed me goodbye once more and he left.

I re-read the files that Connie had given me and I ran a search on Lawrence Demarest. He owned the car wash on South Broad and was charged with stabbing a co-worker who he thought was making some moves on his wife. Vinnie bonded him out and he missed his court date on New Year's Eve Day.

Except for the stabbing, he sounded like an ok guy, so I called my cousin Evelyn who works at Helene Fuld where his co-worker was taken after the incident. I wanted to find out what she knew about the stabbing. She referred me to Marjorie Grasso who was the nurse on duty in the ER that night. As Evelyn was able to give me her cell phone number I got through to her right away. She told me that Pablo Juarez was admitted to the ER with a couple of shoulder wounds. He was patched up and sent back out that night.

I didn't think I'd get anything more from that angle, so I decided to pack up my bag and pay a visit to my mother. There was a good chance either she or my grandmother knew Demarest or his family. And I'd be able to get a piece of my mom's homemade apple crumb cake. I was pretty sure I heard her telling us that she planned on making it this morning. Besides, I had nothing in my stomach after the Joe fiasco and I was starting to get hungry.

I took the Cayenne since my car was still in the parking lot behind my apartment and Ranger had given me the keys to it the other day. I knew he'd be happier with me in this car rather than my POS anyway.

I parked in front and just as I got out of the car, my mother and grandmother were at the front door to open it for me.

"Stephanie, what brings you here?" my grandmother asked, looking back towards the car to see if perhaps Ranger were with me.

"Hi mom. Grandma," I greeted them, taking off my coat and draping it over the post on the staircase like I always did. "Do either one of you know Lawrence Demarest? He owns that carwash on Broad?"

"Why don't you come inside, your mom just took a crumb cake out of the oven and we have coffee on. You look like you could use to warm up a little."

I followed my mother and grandmother into the kitchen and I sat down at the table. Like the perfect 'Burg hostess, my mother had a slice of her apple crumb cake cut and on a plate for me, while my grandmother took mugs from the cabinet for coffee.

Grandma cut herself and my mom similar pieces from the cake and we sat down to talk about Demarest. Turns out my grandmother knew his grandmother from Bingo and she thought she had her number written down somewhere just in case she ever needed a ride. She dug through the scraps of paper that were never entered into her address book and finally pulled out a number.

"Here it is. Louise Demarest. I can call her and tell her we'd like to come over and talk to her about her son."

"No 'we' this time grandma. He's wanted for stabbing an employee. And if that's how he treats his employees, I'd hate to see what he'd do to strangers," I tried warning her, so she'd back off. I didn't want to have to tote grandma around with me today.

My grandmother called her but no one answered, so grandma left a cryptic message about some new man at the bingo hall and to call her.

"I'll get you some information. Louise is looking to hook up with a new man as much as I am. I'll just tell her that I already passed on him and he's free for the taking. Then I'll ask about her family. I'll find out what I can."

"Thanks grandma," I said, checking the time on my mother's kitchen clock. "It's late. I gotta go. I want to run a couple of errands before the day is over."

I grabbed my coat from the banister and said goodbye to my mother and grandmother. I had Louise's phone number and grandma promised to call me once she spoke with her anyway. When I got to the corner I decided to turn left towards Joe's house. It was after four and he was probably home by now. Since I wasn't able to talk to him on the phone this morning, I thought maybe it'd be easier to do in person.

As I drove down his block, I noticed his SUV was parked out front. He was home. I took a couple of deep breaths for bravery, parked the Cayenne behind his and got out. As I was walking down his walk, his front door opened and Bob bounded out and right towards me. Thankfully Joe had a leash on him and pulled him back before he knocked me over.

"Hey Cupcake, what are you doing here? I was just gong to take Bob for a walk. Want to come?"

I didn't want to spend all day there. I wanted to say what I had to say and get back to Ranger. "Joe can we talk for a few minutes? Maybe you can let Bob out back and then walk him later."

"Sure."

Joe pulled Bob back to him and released his collar. I bent down and rubbed his shaggy ears and told him what a good boy he was and that I missed him. That would have to be enough for now; I had more pressing things to talk about with Joe.

I followed Joe into his house and he opened the back door for Bob. While Bob was sniffing around outside I put my stuff down on Joe's kitchen table. That afforded me a few seconds to gather my thoughts.

"Joe we have to talk," I said again.

"What's up?"

"Ranger had Bobby run some tests on me and I have Chlamydia. Joe, I'm pretty sure I got it from you."

"What are you accusing me of Stephanie? Did it ever occur to you that the Mr. Testosterone you've been spending time with lately could be the carrier?"

"He's not. He's clean."

"Are you saying that I'm not?" Joe asked getting angry, fists balling at his side.

"Joe, I'm saying I got it from someone and you were the only person I was sleeping with."

"We both the fuck know that's not true," he said slamming his hand down on the kitchen table, causing my bag to jump.

"Ranger's always used condoms and he's clean," I said, giving away a little more information than I wanted to.

"_Always_ Cupcake? _Always_? How long has this _always_ been going on?" He pulled me close to him and practically spit his words in my face.

"Joe you're hurting me. Let me go."

"I'll show you hurt," he said before he slapped me across the face.

"Do you know how many times you've hurt me with your actions?" he asked raising his hand to slap me again.

"Joe please," I said between tears.

"Morelli. Leave her alone and step back before I do something we'll both regret."

It was Lester's voice and I was never so happy to hear Lester in my whole life.

Joe dropped his hold on me and took a step back, before taking another step in Les' direction and punching him in the face.

I didn't want to see this turn into a fistfight so I dug into my bag and grabbed my stun gun. I reached over and tapped Joe on the neck with it. Thankfully it was charged and he went down.

"Lester," I said, running to him and throwing my arms around his neck. "Did he hurt you?"

"I'm ok Beautiful. I'll have a bruise, but it's nothing. What happened? And are _you_ ok?" he asked while Hal put cuffs on Joe.

"I had to tell Joe something and it didn't go over well. How did you find me?"

"The trackers in the Cayenne showed that you'd stopped here," he said taking some ice cubes out of Joe's freezer and putting them into paper towels. He handed one to me and put one to his cheekbone, which was starting to swell. "Hal didn't think that after your earring incident it would be a good idea for you to be alone with Morelli, so we headed right over."

"I guess I wasn't thinking. I thought I was coming to see the old Joe. The Joe I grew up with… but instead I met this monster." And I burst into tears.

Lester held me close. "Beautiful, it's ok. What do you want us to do with him?"

"No Lester, you can't do _anything_ with him. And Ranger can't do anything. Shit. This is my own fault. When he comes to, I want to talk to him and then I want you to untie him and let him go. You can't hurt him. I led him on."

"You didn't lead him on," Hal said after securing Joe. "The camera I planted in the tree across the street is still operating. Joe's front door was open and the camera has a good long-range lens on it. We saw and heard into the kitchen. Nothing that happened was your fault."

"Not directly, but I said more than I intended to and it set him off. There has always been this animosity between him and Ranger and well, I just added fuel to the fire. Please. I need to talk to him and then you have to let him go."

Joe was coming to, so Hal and I helped him to his feet and sat him down on one of the kitchen chairs.

"Joe, I'm sorry," I started and looked up to see a disapproving look on Lester's face.

"He's the one who should be apologizing to you Beautiful," he said acridly.

"I didn't mean for it to come out like that Joe," I tried again. "I just came here to tell you something you needed to know. I hope you'll tell whoever else you have to and that you'll get treatment for it…and your anger. I asked Les and Hal to let you go and made them promise not to hurt you. I'm glad Ranger wasn't here to see this, but I promise he won't come after you either. Be well, Joe."

Hal unlocked Joe's cuffs while I picked up my bag where I left it. We let ourselves out of Joe's house and left him alone to contemplate his actions.

Lester helped me into the passenger's side of the Rangeman vehicle and Hal got into the drivers' seat of the Cayenne.

"Well if the camera was still operating, I guess you heard."

"Not for me to know Beautiful and Hal is more discreet than I am."

"Thanks Les. You're a good friend."

"Yeah well Ranger's going to be pissed that Hal and I didn't make him disappear. I hope I'm a good enough friend that you can convince the boss that it wasn't our idea to let him go."

"I will. He'll listen to me."

"Did you have some last minute thoughts on your house? You promised Artemis you'd meet her at two, did you change your mind?"

"Oh shit," I said, digging though my bag for my phone. "I knew there was something else I had to do today." Thank God Artemis started with an 'A' and was easy to find; I touched the button next to her name and she answered on the first ring.

"I'm so sorry I stood you up today. I feel terrible. I never do this, I have too much on my mind," I rambled on, not giving her a chance to get a word in edge-wise."

"It's ok Stephanie. When two-fifteen came and went, I called your phone. I didn't get an answer so I called Elena to see if she heard from you and if you changed your mind about coming. She tracked down Lester and he told her that you were at your parents' house. I thought something might have happened so I took it upon myself to meet with the crew and go over everything they did. I have something for you if you want to meet me at the house now."

"Thank you. I'm so sorry. Yes, I can meet you now. What did you find?"

"I didn't find it, the crew did, but I think you'll like it. It's 4:40 now; I can get there in fifteen minutes. Let's say we'll meet at your house at five o'clock?"

"Shit. I don't have the fob. I'll have to go back to Rangeman first."

"I have the one Ranger gave me last night. I'll meet you in twenty minutes."

"Ok," I said hanging up and turning to Lester.

"Why didn't you call me? I feel terrible that I stood her up. I'm such an idiot. If I'd have just gone to the house, none of this would have happened."

"I was in the building, so I just went to the control room. When I saw your car parked in front of your parents' house I assumed your mother was on one of her tirades and you were in the middle of it. I was the one who told Artemis to just go on without you."

"Thank you Les."

"Call Hal and let him know what we're doing or he'll follow us to the house."

I had my phone in my hand so I scrolled to the 'H's' and called Hal.

"Steph, what's up?"

"Les and I are heading over to the Sweeney estate. You can go back to Rangeman; we'll be fine. Thanks for everything today."

"My pleasure. Sure you don't need me?"

"I'm positive. Thanks anyway."

I hung up with Hal and I felt really bad. I've never stood someone up before. It's just not something I do. I wondered what happened.

"I think you have a lot on your mind."

"I said that out loud?"

"You did. I think there's a lot of stuff between you and Morelli that you haven't worked out yet and it's eating you up."

"God, I'll say. Les, do you know what Artemis found?" I asked changing the subject.

"I do, but I'm not going to tell you. I want to see the shock on your face when you find out what it is."

"Lester, you're not playing fair."

"We're here. You'll see it in a few minutes."

Artemis was waiting for us at the gate, fob in hand.

"I want you to see the job the cleaning crew did and I have something for you. The crew said they found it out in the open, which is strange because we didn't see it yesterday."

"You and Lester are killing me, what is this 'it?'

"Come up to the house with me."

She fobbed open the gate, we got into our cars and drove up the hill towards the house. It was just starting to get dark and I wondered if Clyde was still around. I picked up my iPhone and texted Hector.

'Any activity?'

'Sí, Clyde is there. No one else. I tink they left.'

'Thanx'

"Clyde's here," I said to Les as we parked. "I guess we should say hello."

"Whatever. He's _your_ ghost."

Artemis had the key to the front door in her hand. Guessed humans weren't as trusting as spirits.

"Hector says Clyde is here."

"I figured as much. Say hi and I'll show you your present before we walk around."

"What's all this white stuff I asked," as we went through the door.

"It's salt. Salt has drawing power and draws up negative energy. They put it around all the doors and windows."

"Oh." "Hi Clyde. It's Steph and Les and Artemis," I called out.

Of course I didn't get a response, I wasn't expecting one. Instead I asked again about what the crew found this morning.

"Close your eyes and open your hand."

I did as I was told and Artemis dropped something about two inches in diameter into my hand. It was round and flat and it had a chain attached to it. "A pocket watch," I said and opened my eyes.

"Well not just any pocket watch. It's engraved. Open it."

"CDN?"

"That 'D' is much larger than the other two letters I'm pretty sure that's the last name."

"Oh my God. Clyde Nathaniel Darby."

"Clyde is this for me? Thank you. It's beautiful."

"Where did they find it?"

"It was inside the armoire in the master bedroom. I opened that myself yesterday when we were smudging and nothing was there. I'm positive Clyde left this for you. It's a sidewinder. I'd say this is worth quite a bit of money."

"What's a sidewinder?"

"The winding stem is at three o'clock instead of twelve. I don't know much about pocket watches, but my grandfather had one. I guess you can google them."

"Wow. Thank you Clyde," I said again.

"Let me show you what the cleaning crew did. The place is spotless."

Artemis took us around and I was very impressed. The years old dust-laden grease was gone. The kitchen was spotless and Artemis was about to lead us down the servants' staircase to the basement when I stopped.

"I trust you. I don't think I can go down there."

"Ok. I just wanted to show you that they removed the bicycle. It's out back in case you want it. They also found an old photo album. I think it belonged to the Sweeney's. Do you want it?"

"Sure, I'd love to take a look at it. Although I think I'd rather know what Clyde looked like."

My cell phone buzzed that I had a text and I half-expected it to be Clyde sending me a picture of himself, but it wasn't. It was Ranger.

'R U at the house?'

'Yes. With Artemis and Les.'

'Stay there. I'm five minutes away.'

'Ok.'

"Shit. Ranger's coming," I said to Les. "He's going to notice your face and he's going to ask what happened."

"I case you didn't know, yours is all red too. We're both screwed."


	9. Chapter 9—Confessions and Confirmations

_Blinky, Pinky, Inky and Clyde_

This takes place after "It's a new day, it's a new dawn, it's a new year"

A/N Thank you so much for reading along and for all your wonderful reviews. They really do keep me going. :) Thank you :)

M rating (mostly for language)

**Thank you Margaret** for reading ahead as my Beta. :) I much appreciate :)

**And** her insistence that Joe is just a **man 'ho**, spurred me on :)

Don't own the characters (except for Clyde), just playing :)

**Chapter 9—Confessions and Confirmations**

Artemis went to get the photo album that the cleaning crew said they put in an old secretary in the drawing room and I went to take a quick look in the mirror. Yep, Les was right; there was no way we were going to be able to hide the damage.

"Well I think I'll be going," Les said when I came out of the bathroom. "You have a ride back to Rangeman now."

"Lester Santos, you are staying right here with me," I said to him boldly, raising my voice. "If I'm going to face Ranger like this, so are you."

I didn't know when I grew the set of balls, but it felt good to use them.

"Jeez Beautiful, you don't have to yell at me. I'll stay with you if you want me too."

"Please Lester."

"That's more like it. But _you're_ going to have to tell Ranger what happened. Remember, _we_ rescued _you_."

"I will. Thank you."

I didn't have to wait very long to delve into my story. Ranger knocked on the front door just as Artemis handed me the old leather-bound photo album. Either he had a way with gates too, or he had an extra fob. I was leaning towards the fob, but you never know.

"Hi Ranger," I said going over to him to give him a kiss.

"Babe, what happened to your face?"

"It's…it's nothing," I responded as Les walked over with his very visible bruise.

"What the fuck happened to the two of you?" Ranger asked looking from me to Santos and back again.

"I'm sorry Ranger. Les was just trying to help me out and he got in the middle of something. I went to see Joe…"

"Madre de Dios. Santo puta mierda. Mal matarlo a él * I'll fucking kill him.

"No Ranger. Let me explain. It was my fault."

"Stephanie. I don't care what you said to him. This is unacceptable behavior. You don't _strike_ a woman. _Ever_." Ranger turned around and went back towards the front door. It was only then that I noticed that Tank was with him.

"No Ranger. Please let me explain."

"There's no explaining. Stephanie, you were lucky Santos arrived when he did. Que Dios me ayude.**

I saw Ranger flash Tank a look and Tank took off.

"You can't hurt him. Everything isn't settled with you fists."

"My fists are not going to be anywhere near him."

"Please. I want to tell you what I said before you do something you'll be sorry for. Call Tank back." When Ranger didn't make move to call Tank I went outside and let out my best 'Burg girl whistle.

Lester had his hands over his ears.

"Shit Bomber, I didn't know you could do that."

"Yeah sometimes the old ways are the best. God you guys."

Tank came back into the house and even though Artemis was still with us, I felt I needed to let Ranger and Tank know exactly what happened today. Artemis didn't seen like a gossiper.

"Will you listen?" I asked. Both guys nodded.

"I went over to my moms today and when I got as much information as I could on my skip, I went to see Joe. Tank, Artemis, as embarrassing as this is for me, you need to know Joe is an STD carrier and yeah, I'm one of his victims." I looked over at Ranger to make sure what I said was ok before I continued.

"I called him on it and he got angry. He blamed you Ranger. And this is where_ I _fucked up. I told him that you _always_ wore a condom and he lost it. He screamed '_Always_, Stephanie how long has this _always_ been?' And then he slapped me. Somehow Lester and Hal arrived at this point and when Les tried to break us up, Joe hit Les.

"I'm sorry," I said to Tank, Les and Artemis. "I don't mean to drag you into my personal life, but this has to be aired before my fiancé decides to take matters into his own hands and we read about it tomorrows papers."

"I can understand his anger," Ranger said, "but I cannot condone how he handled it. I think Tank and I need to pay him a visit."

"I already spoke to him Ranger. Please don't hurt him."

"I told you the last time he hurt you that if he ever did something like that again, all bets were off. I can't have him slapping my wife around."

"We're not married yet."

"You know what I mean Babe. I can promise you we won't kill him, but that's all I can promise."

"Ranger, please," I begged, "can't you just do one of your mind intimidation things? You know, you told me you were a better mind-fucker than he was."

"All part of the plan Babe. Tank, can you have whoever is on monitor duty pull up Morelli's trackers? I'd like to know where he is right now." Morelli had trackers?

Tank took out his phone and just said one word, 'Morelli.'

"He's home, or at least his SUV is. Shall we pay him a visit?"

Ranger nodded. "This isn't going to take long. Santos can you take Steph back to Rangeman? Babe, I don't think you need to see this. We'll talk when I get home. Ok?"

I barely nodded that I was ok for them to go, when Ranger's cell phone vibrated in his pocket. He took it out, looked at the display and answered with his usual "Yo."

"Really?" "Stephanie is right here. I think you should tell her Hector. I'll put the phone on speaker."

"Hola Chica. I just glanced over at the cameras we have set up at the house. The phosphorus display that Clyde is creating _now_ is even stronger than the one he made when you told him he was dead or when he pulled his energy together to knock over the lamp. Is something going on there?"

"Uh oh. I think he's angry. He probably overheard our conversation. Artemis, should I try to talk to him?"

"I'm on monitor duty, so I can't stay on the line," Hector said from the phone, "I just wanted you to know what I was seeing. If you need me, call."

"Ok, thanks Hector," I said, giving Ranger back his phone.

"Artemis, what do you think?"

"I think you need to talk to him."

"Clyde. I'm sorry I upset you. I guess you overheard and you're not too happy with me. It's not what you think. I'm not like that."

I wasn't sure if he'd respond, or how he would respond if he did, so I took my cell phone out of my bag and held it in my hand.

It didn't ping like it usually does when I have an incoming text message, but once again the 454-545 was displayed as the originator of the text. I opened my messages to read it.

"Who hurt you? Who is Morelli?"

I texted him back. "Joe Morelli was my ex-boyfriend. He didn't mean to hurt me."

"Not what I heard."

"It was a misunderstanding. Joe and I have a long history and he was angry."

"No excuse."

"What are you texting Babe?" Ranger asked when he saw me furiously typing.

"It's Clyde, he's asking about Joe. He doesn't seem happy."

"Speak to him Stephanie, He can hear you," Artemis said. "I'd assume it's easier for him to text than to talk, so you may get a written response, but he can hear you."

Before I had a chance to speak to Clyde, I got another text from the 454-545 number.

"She came to me once after she was beaten."

I texted right back, "I don't understand. She who?" I read Clyde's text to Ranger, Tank, Artemis and Les. Artemis answered.

"Remember I told you I researched Hedy Lamarr and I showed you that book?"

"Yes. I think it was called _Hedy's Folly_."

"Well she wrote an autobiography that I took out from the library at the same time and she describes herself as an nymphomaniac. She said she didn't care if she was having sex with a man or a woman, as long as she was having sex. And she was beaten and raped more than once. This may be what Clyde is referring to?"

"I'm sorry Clyde. I'm sure that was hard for you."

"Joe hurt you. I want to help."

"Clyde, can you leave the building?" I asked, when suddenly a thought popped into my head. A good haunting may be just what Joe needed.

Ranger and Tank looked at me. "Guys, wait a minute. Maybe Clyde can help with Joe," I said and then explained just what I had in mind.

"I think I can," appeared on my phone.

"How do you get from one place to another?" I asked Clyde.

"I just go."

"If I go outside, can you follow me? Can you follow a car?"

"I think so."

"Ranger? Tank? Want to take Clyde with you?"

They both looked at me like I'd lost it. "Listen if it doesn't work you have your fists, or whatever else it was you were planning on using. But if it works, there is nothing better than a really good scare. Look what it did to me until I realized it was Clyde." Suddenly the lights went out.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean it like that."

The lights came back on.

"Listen Babe, the reason I wanted to meet you here tonight was to let you know my attorneys took care of everything and the place is ours now. We can start the demolition at any time."

"Uh, ok. But what about Clyde? Obviously he still lives here." "Clyde where will you go if we tear down the house? What will you do?"

I looked down at my phone and what appeared made me laugh so hard, I dropped the phone. This was going to be good.

"I'll stay with Joe."

xxxXXXxxx

A/N I know this was a short chapter. But it was just the logical place to end this. I promise to post another on Sunday, Monday the latest.

*Mother of God. Holy fucking shit. I'll kill him.

**God help me.


	10. Chapter 10—An Eye for an Eye

_Blinky, Pinky, Inky and Clyde_

This takes place after "It's a new day, it's a new dawn, it's a new year"

A/N Thank you so much for reading along and for all your wonderful reviews. They really do keep me going. :) Thank you :)

M rating (mostly for language)

**Thank you Margaret** for reading ahead as my Beta. :) I much appreciate :)

**And** her insistence that Joe is just a **man 'ho**, spurred me on :)

Don't own the characters (except for Clyde), just playing :)

**Chapter 10—An Eye for an Eye**

Ranger and Tank took off to call on Joe. I guessed Clyde took off after them; I had no way of knowing. I knew Artemis had much more experience with spirits than I did so I asked her.

"Do you think he'll be able to follow them? Keep up, I mean. They're in a truck."

"Well he said he thought he could do it, so he probably can. I'm more interested in knowing just what he intends to do when he gets there."

"He said he's moving in. I guess that means he has every intention of haunting Joe. I should have given him the background that Joe inherited his Aunt Rose's house. If he knew, maybe he could just pretend he was a female ghost."

"Clyde doesn't seem like he'd be into female impersonations. Did Aunt Rose have a husband?"

"I'm pretty sure she did. I just don't know his name. I can ask my grandmother. But how will we let Clyde know?"

"I guess you can try texting him; he texts you."

"Do you think it'll reach a few miles, he doesn't seem to have wifi or a data plan?"

"Didn't Hector say he broadcasts from an unlicensed band?" she laughed out loud. "I don't think he needs those things. Why don't you text him and find out?"

"And how does he read my texts without a phone?"

"That's too technical for me; maybe Hector knows. I'm glad you guys bought the place and I'm glad you made peace with Clyde. I have a funny feeling he's going to be sticking around. Might as well build him his own room."

"You're kidding right?"

"I don't kid about those things. And he pretty much told you he's not leaving."

I didn't know what kind of house Ranger wanted to build, but I was pretty sure we'd discuss it. I guessed I could mention a room for Clyde. After all, I didn't want him sharing _our_ bedroom. Some people take their pets into consideration when they build; we'd be accommodating our ghost.

"Beautiful, want to head back to Rangeman? I have a date tonight and I want to shower first."

"I have to leave too," Artemis said. "We can come back tomorrow if you want to look around again before you bring in a demolition crew. Take the photo album with you. You can look through it while you wait for Ranger to get back."

She handed me the album while we got our things together. I planned on texting Clyde from the car so I kept my phone out.

"Can I meet you here tomorrow," I asked on second thought. "I'd like to see if Clyde makes it back."

"Of course. Is eleven o'clock good?"

We decided on the time and Les and I got into the Explorer while Artemis took the lead in her BMW X5. Jeez. And at one time I thought she was homeless.

Lester got in the drivers seat, which was fine by me. My face was still stinging from the slap and I wanted to have a conversation with Clyde. Once we were all buckled in and heading down the driveway up popped a new message. Yep it was from that familiar 454-545 number. Clyde.

"I don't like him."

"Don't like who?" I texted back, hoping it wasn't Ranger or Tank.

"Joe. He's arrogant and hot-headed."

"He's Italian," I wrote, as if that were a logical explanation.

"He hates Ranger, but he's going to hate me more."

"OMG, what R U going to do?"

"OMG? R U?"

"Sorry Clyde, I forget you're like 110 years old. OMG is 'Oh My God.' R U is 'are you.' Sorry."

"I am NOT 110 years old! I am 43. I've just been 43 for the last 67 years. Did you see my picture?"

"No. Where is your picture?"

"Shake the photo album. They should fall out."

"They? There is more than one?"

"A strip of pictures from a photo booth. I was with Hedy at the 1939 World's Fair in New York."

I reached into the backseat to get the photo album and I shook it. Sure enough, one strip of three photos fell out. They were brown with age, but there was no mistaking Hedy Lamarr. She was striking.

"Clyde, you are a handsome devil," I texted him after looking closely at the images under the overhead light in the SUV.

He had a little Clark Gable moustache and his probably light brown hair flopped over his forehead in a sexy, messy style. He was wearing a black shirt, a pinstriped jacket and a dark on light polka dot tie. Ranger would like his look. Well, maybe not the polka dots.

"Thank you. But if you actually knew me you might think differently."

"You look a little like Clark Gable."

"We all tried for Gable. Pencil mustache and as much sex appeal as we could muster."

"You pulled it off." "What's going on at Joe's?" I finally asked.

"No blows. Ranger is scaring ME with his threats."

"Clyde, what do you intend to do?"

"Scare the crap out of him."

I was good with that. No fists, but then I got another text from Clyde.

"Ranger just turned away and Tank punched Joe in the jaw after he threw down some pictures of you and Lester."

I guess they were stills from the long-range camera Hal had installed across the street. Shit, I was afraid of that. An eye for an eye.

"They just left. I'm setting up camp in Joe's living room."

I guessed I'd give Ranger about a half an hour to get back. I had already touched base with Ella and she was going to bring dinner up around seven thirty. We still had forty minutes.

I just remembered that I hadn't clued Clyde in that Joe inherited the house after his Aunt Rose died. I couldn't remember if Joe had ever told me the name of his uncle, but I thought for now Clyde should know about Aunt Rose, so I texted him.

"Good to know" I got back. "Maybe tomorrow I'll be Aunt Rose."

"Are you going to come back to the house after Joe leaves for work? I'm meeting Artemis there at eleven."

"Ok. Joe has ice on his jaw. Wish I could make it burn him." "Yeah, that worked."

"What did you do Clyde?"

"I thought it hot and it worked. He cursed and dropped the ice."

"Do you have super human powers?"

"Human? I'm dead. Remember you told me that."

"I'm sorry. Artemis told me I had to tell you."

"Yeah."

"Do you not like her?"

"She's ok. I like you better."

"Ah, that's sweet."

I heard the lock on the front door tumble, so I knew Ranger was home. I didn't want him to see me texting Clyde _again_—that damn jealous streak, so I sent one last text before going out to get Ranger's take on the Joe thing.

"Ranger's back. I'll see you tomorrow?"

"Well maybe not see me, but I'll be there."

"Thank you Clyde. Happy haunting."

I put my phone back in my bag and went out to Ranger. Then it hit me. Joe's Aunt Rose had been married to _Uncle Sallie_. Shit. I had to let Clyde know.

I went back to the bedroom to get my bag and brought it out with me to greet Ranger.

"Going somewhere?" Ranger asked, eyeing my bag on my shoulder.

"I just remembered Joe's uncle's name. I wanted to text Clyde, but then I heard you come in," I said pulling Ranger in close for a kiss. I used a lot of tongue to make my point; I really _did_ prefer a living, breathing man…although Clyde _was_ kind of cute.

"Mmmm Babe. What are you up to?" Ranger asked pointedly when we broke for air.

"Nothing. What do you mean?"

_**Ranger's POV**_

This ghost was going to be the death of me. Stephanie has been treating him like a fucking puppy. Cooing over his every move. Next she'd be leaving him treats.

I had a talk with Morelli. Hell, I threatened Morelli. Unfortunately I could tell by his body language that he was having none of it. He seemed obsessed with Stephanie. I believed it had something to do with her being the cover-up for his ongoing affair with Gilman. I had promised Steph that I wouldn't handle this with my fists, but I never made a promise for Tank. I was glad he took it upon himself to try to right the wrong.

I couldn't help but laugh…Morelli never even saw it coming. And I bet he's hurting right now; Tank packs some punch. Good for him.

I wanted to let Steph in on my thinking about the cop, so after she told me that Ella was on the way up with dinner, I took a bottle of red out of my small wine cellar and opened it to let it breathe. Sometimes talking to Stephanie about Morelli was easier when she was less defensive and I thought a glass of wine might help the matter.

Besides, I wanted her to relax a little. She's been so wound up the last few days. Not that I can blame her, she probably doesn't realize that sixth sense of hers has been working overtime. I know in the back of her mind she's been trying to figure out what Morelli's up to and also trying to make sense of our 'spirited' houseguest. Not to mention my confession and proposal, which were honorable, by the way.

She said she wanted to take a quick shower before dinner, but I had a feeling that was just a pretense. I was pretty sure she wanted to text the ghost again and didn't want me to know how often she's been 'talking' to him.

Granted, nothing made me smile more than seeing him say he was staying with Joe while we did the demolition. A good haunting would be good for the both of them. Maybe the ghost would get it out of his system and decide to head to his own world and I really hoped it would make Morelli think he was losing his mind. Or at the very least give him a good case of the shits.

I heard Steph turn off the water in the shower, so I got up to set the dining room table. Ella usually does that, but I wanted to dine by candlelight tonight. Aside from letting Steph know what went on with her ex today I had something else planned for the evening. And I wanted to set the mood.

I heard Steph turn off the hair dryer, which meant she was ready for the evening and either her hair was behaving, or it wasn't. I took the opportunity to walk into our bedroom and help her to the table.

"Babe, you look beautiful," I said, meaning it.

"Thank you Ranger, but I know what you're doing."

"What I'm doing? I'm complimenting my woman on how she looks. What did you think I was doing?'

"Buttering me up for something. You didn't kill Joe did you?"

"Madre de Dios. God help me, no. Where did you get that idea?"

"I don't know. You didn't exactly leave the house all smiles before. Anything could have happened. I'm glad I don't have to worry."

"You don't have to worry. Let me help you out to dinner," I said kissing her, then taking her on my arm for the short walk to the dining room. "It looks like Ella has outdone herself. Chicken Paprikash, spaetzle and a cucumber side dish, she said it's in honor of your Hungarian roots."

"Sounds yummy," she said, pausing before she continued. "Um Ranger. I know something is going on that you're not telling me. Give."

"Let's have dinner first. It has to do with Morelli, but we'll eat first."

I poured some wine into both of our glasses and proposed a toast 'to us.' I must say, dinner was fantastic; Ella really did outdo herself. And Steph seemed to enjoy everything. Ella even made a small chocolate cake for dessert.

"Oh God Ranger, "Stephanie moaned, "you've got to try this. I know your rules won't allow you to eat this regularly, but just take a bite, I promise you won't be disappointed."

I didn't want Steph to be in a pouty mood when I brought up Morelli, so I took a small bite off her fork. Stephanie nearly fell over.

"Ranger, you ate that! What did you think? Want another bite?"

"Good," I said, trying to get the chocolatey goo off the roof of my mouth.

"Another bite, maybe a piece?"

"I'm good Babe; enjoy yourself."

Once we finished, cleaned up and had the dishwasher going I took her into the living room to talk. I wasn't quite sure where to begin, so I went back to a place we'd been over before.

"Babe, remember we had the conversation about Morelli needing you as his foil so that he could keep his relationship with Terri without jeopardizing his career as a vice detective?"

"Yes?"

"Well I found out a little more. He's asked for a transfer."

"Out of Trenton or out of vice?"

"Out of vice. But if they can't find a place for him in either homicide or crimes against persons, he said he'd be willing to work in any of the surrounding PDs."

"Really? And you think this has something to do with Terri?"

"The Grizollis, yes. Vito Grizolli has brought in the heads of some of the other crime families on the east coast. Something is up."

"Where are they all staying?"

"He has a compound in an unincorporated area outside of Princeton. It's about seventeen acres. Protected with guards, cameras and dogs. Impenetrable."

"And I need to know this why?"

"I'm expecting Morelli to try to get back with you. He'll promise you the moon, stars and sun. He cannot be associated with Terri if he knows what I'm pretty sure he knows. I doubt he can find a Stephanie-replacement in under a week, so I'm assuming he'll be hell-bent on getting you back."

"But I love you. I don't want to go back with him."

"Just my point Babe."


	11. Chapter 11—The OMG Aspect

_Blinky, Pinky, Inky and Clyde_

This takes place after "It's a new day, it's a new dawn, it's a new year"

A/N Thank you so much for reading along and for all your wonderful reviews. They really do keep me going. :) Thank you :)

M rating (mostly for language)

**Thank you Margaret** for reading ahead as my Beta. :) I much appreciate :)

**And** her insistence that Joe is just a **man ****'****ho**, spurred me on :)

Don't own the characters (except for Clyde), just playing :)

**Chapter 11****—****The OMG Aspect**

**_Stephanie POV_**

I was confused. Yes I knew Joe and I had so many ons and offs that even _I_ lost count, but Terri was the last straw. We were off. And off for good. Why would I even entertain going back with him again? Ever.

"So Ranger do you want me to pretend I'm interested if Joe calls me? Are you planning on using me to get some information out of him?"

"No Babe. I think we have a better secret weapon. I just want you to be prepared for the call."

"Oh. What's the _better_ secret weapon?"

"Morelli's invisible houseguest. Obviously he can go anywhere undetected. He could probably follow Terri home and report back to you if it came down to it. But right now I'm thinking he could gather just as much information by sitting in Morelli's kitchen and listening in on his phone calls."

"Do you want me to let him know what's going on and to keep his eyes and ears open?"

"Give it a day. See if he picks up on anything on his own and volunteers his help. I'd rather not be indebted to a spirit if I had my druthers."

"Ok but remember…he was a bootlegger. He may not think there is anything wrong with the stuff he might overhear between Joe and Terri. I think I should give him a little background. He won't feel indebted to me. He feels some kind of kinship. Obviously now he knows the difference, but I think whatever it was that he felt for Hedy, he feels for me. Well, just because I resemble her."

"Yeah. And I'm not too happy with that convoluted piece of information."

"Ranger." Yeah I could do one-word sentences when it suited me too.

"I just want to send him a quick text," I added taking my phone out of my bag.

"Anything going on there?" I texted to Clyde.

"He just came back with an awful-smelling sandwich. The bag says Pinos. It should be condemned."

"Probably a meatball sub. It's my favorite."

"Sub?"

"It's a sandwich. It's shaped like a submarine."

"Oh. It still smells.

"Did they have submarines in your day?" I asked because I wasn't quite sure if I needed to explain them further.

"The sandwich or the submersible?"

"Smart ass."

"Yes. Submarines have been around since I was a boy."

"I wanted to give you a little information. A woman named Terri may call, or stop by."

"She called already."

"Her family are the Grizolli's. Organized crime. Joe is a vice detective. They are a couple that shouldn't B. Joe was using me to take eyes off of their relationship. She could have given him the STD for all I know."

"He didn't tell her. At least not on this call."

"Ranger said her family is plotting something. All the crime family heads are at their compound in Princeton."

"Want me to follow her if she comes around?"

"Ranger said to just listen. And if you hear anything interesting, let us know. Just don't get caught."

"What can they do to me? They can't see me and I'm already dead, remember? They can't kill me again. "

"U R funny for a ghost."

"Yeah. Ha ha."

"The texting symbol for smile or laugh is this :) a colon and a closed parenthesis."

"Is that what were doing? Texting?"

"What do you think we're doing?"

"I am mentally sending messages to that radio contraption in your hand. You can read it, and we can communicate."

"It's an iPhone. Stands for intelligent phone, I think."

"It operates on radio frequencies. Joe's doorbell just rang."

"Who is it?"

"Slim blonde woman."

"Terri."

"I'll get in touch with U later."

I told Ranger what I knew, which wasn't a lot. Only that Terri was there and Clyde said he'd let us know if he heard anything. Oh, and that Joe hadn't told Terri yet about his STD. That was just disgusting as far as I was concerned.

I looked down at my phone and saw I had one more text.

"Good night :)."

"Ah," I said to Ranger. "Look at this, he just wished me a good night."

"If he wasn't dead already, I'd kill him."

"Ranger, I told you before, there is no need for you to be jealous. I love _you_." And to prove I was serious, I climbed onto his lap and pulled him in for a kiss. Well it was a lot more than just _a kiss_.

When we broke apart we were breathless. And I could feel Ranger's 'happy' pressing against me.

"Ranger?"

"Babe, no words…but the clothes have to go."

"Mmmm. Bedroom?"

"Anywhere Babe."

I looked up at him and his eyes were black with desire.

"Dios. You are so beautiful," he said softly, staring at my lips and finally kissing them.

His kisses trailed down my neck and over to my ear. Then he found that sensitive spot where my neck meets my shoulder and he kissed and licked his way around, sending shivers down my spine. He was going to be the death of me

Ranger began an assault on my body, kissing, licking and removing clothes as they got in his way. He pulled my top over my head. My bra followed.

"I want to make love to you," he whispered.

"Oh God. Ranger now."

"In time. Let me enjoy you first."

His hands were everywhere and his mouth followed. He found a place, a dip in the small of my back, that made me moan and he paid extra attention to it. Oh my God, then his tongue traveled to that sensitive area between my ass and the promised land. Finally his mouth was directly over where I wanted him and then he was inside of me. Oh my God.

The next six hours were a blur. Not that we fucked for six hours, but we slept here, slept there and made love during all of the in-betweens. I was going to be walking funny tomorrow. I wondered how Ranger would fare. Maybe we didn't need to set foot out of the apartment. Unfortunately then I remembered my appointment.

"Ranger, I love you," I said after yet another interlude of bliss.

"I love you too Babe. Let's get married."

"Ranger?"

"Carlos."

"Carlos." I tried it on for size. "Would you prefer Carlos?" I added not knowing if he wanted me to call him that or not.

He nodded and then looked sad. "If you don't like it you can still use Ranger. My family calls me Carlos.

"We can get married surrounded by family and friends or we can elope," he continued easily, as though he'd been thinking about this for a while.

"I don't want my mother taking over—no Knights of Columbus hall, but I want our families and friends to be with us. How could we get married without Tank and Lester or Hal or Bobby? No, we can't elope. Your parents…they'd be hurt. We have to have some kind of ceremony. Carlos I love you."

"I love you too Babe. More than you'll ever know."

"I have an idea. Why don't we wait until the spring? The house will be demolished by then and I think we have a beautiful rose garden on our property. We could bring in a few large tents and some heat lamps in case the weather doesn't cooperate."

"Perfect," Carlos said. "Just like you," and he kissed me again.

I guessed we were getting married. Holy shit.

"Should we ask Ella to be our caterer?"

"Carlos, you have a big family and there are over fifty Rangemen here that feel like family to us. Then there's my family, Mary Lou, Lula and Connie. That's a lot of people for Ella to cook for. Maybe we should just hire a caterer?"

"I think Ella would be hurt if we didn't ask her. I'm pretty sure she has resources that she could bring in to help. And you've seen the size of the kitchen on four. It's huge. We could fit multiple chefs in there."

"Ok then we'll ask her. But give her an out in case it's just too much. Ok?"

We agreed and then we fell to sleep in each other's arms. Exhausted.

I woke up somewhere around 8:30 because I was cold. I reached over for Ranger, no Carlos, but he wasn't in the bed. I knew he didn't need as much sleep as I did, so I just assumed he went down to the gym to get in a workout. As if we didn't work out enough last night. Jeez.

I had to meet Artemis at the house at eleven, so I went into the bathroom for a quick shower. Hopefully the hot water would help my aching limbs too. I guessed we played kind of hard last night.

After I showered and got my hair to cooperate I padded out the kitchen to see if Carlos was around. I could smell coffee…what a caring man, but there was no Carlos. Then I saw the note on the refrigerator:

"Babe, There was a break in at Campbell's Soup last night. Tank and I were invited over there for a meeting. They want to switch security companies. I made you coffee. Enjoy your day. I should be home around 4. Love, C."

How sweet.

I saw that he left me the keys to the Cayenne, so after I made myself some breakfast and got dressed, I went down to the garage. Something made me check my phone before heading out. I had three texts from Clyde.

"You didn't tell me I'd have to listen to them all night."

"It's midnight, I'm heading back to the house. She's a screamer."

"Text me before you come. I have a surprise for you."

I felt bad. I didn't expect Terri to spend the night with Joe. Poor Clyde. Well at least he left and he seems to know how to come and go now. I picked up my phone and responded to his last text.

"I'm sorry Clyde. I wish I could bring you a donut or something to make it up to you. You don't eat, do you?"

"Are you on your way?"

"Yes. What's your surprise?"

"While Joe and Terri were upstairs I took her phone. It's just like yours so I was able to intercept the radio frequency. I have some information for you."

"I'll be there in fifteen minutes. Is Artemis there yet?"

"No."

I wondered what he had. Carlos probably had all the Grizolli phone numbers, so I hoped it was something different. Maybe there was an email from Uncle Vito to Terri letting her know why all the mafia heads were going to the compound in Princeton. Well, maybe not.

I fobbed myself into the estate. As I drove up the hill I took in the mature Linden trees that Elena pointed out. It looked like they might be growing buds. Or maybe I was just anticipating an early spring.

When I got up to the house, Clyde was right, Artemis hadn't arrived yet.

I wasn't sure if Clyde could see me approach or if I needed to let him somehow know I was here. I took out my phone to text him. I saw another text from the 454-545 number and knew Clyde beat me to it.

"I watched you approach. When you get out of your car I'll be right in front of you. Try to touch me. I'll reach for your hand."

I wasn't sure what to do, so I parked and slowly made my way out of the car. Clyde said to try to touch him. The only sense I got of a ghostly presence before was cold air, so I was expectlng that when I extended my hand. I didn't expect to feel something take it. Something warm, perhaps. Pressure is how I could explain it. Like a handshake.

"Clyde?"

"Stephanie," a voice said. "Pleased to meet you."

"Can I greet you? Can I hug you?"

"You may go though me. I can generate just enough energy for a handshake. I don't have enough energy to talk for too long. I rather text."

"Clyde. I am so happy to make your acquaintance."

"Your iPhone," he said and I could tell it took most of his energy. His voice sounded distant.

I took my phone out of my bag as I knew Clyde had something important to tell me.

"Terri is not the meeter/greeter or whatever it is you thought she did for the Grizolli's," the text that popped up in front of me said.

"She's not? I know she works for them."

"She's their council. The _family_ lawyer. She holds a lot of power."

"Holy shit," I said, not expecting that at all.


	12. Chapter 12—Rangemen meet Clyde

_Blinky, Pinky, Inky and Clyde_

This takes place after "It's a new day, it's a new dawn, it's a new year"

A/N Thank you so much for reading along and for all your wonderful reviews. They really do keep me going. :) Thank you :)

M rating (mostly for language)

**Thank you Margaret** for reading ahead as my Beta. :) I much appreciate :)

**And** her insistence that Joe is just a **man **'**ho**, spurred me on :)

Don't own the characters (except for Clyde), just playing :)

**Chapter 12—Rangemen meet Clyde**

I was just getting over the fact that Terri was the Grizolli Family lawyer when my cell phone rang. I had it in my hand as Clyde had just been texting me, so I looked down at the display to see who it was. It was Joe.

"Clyde, it's Joe," I said, slightly annoyed.

"Take his call. See what he has to say."

I hit my 'answer' button and Joe's voice appeared on the line. "Hey Cupcake."

"Hi Joe. What's up?"

"I was wondering if you might want to meet for lunch. I owe you an apology."

"Lunch?" I said out loud so Clyde could hear too. "Today?"

"Today is good for me. The prostitutes and child pornographers were quiet last night."

I had put my phone on speaker so Clyde could hear. He sent me a text while Joe and I were talking. "Go. I'll watch your back."

"I guess today would work for me too," I said, feeling better knowing that Clyde was coming along. "It'll have to be later though, I'm at the house now. Say one o'clock?"

Artemis had arrived while Joe and I were negotiating a time and she gave me a puzzled look when she realized we were going to have a short visit. I knew I owed her an explanation, so I held my hand up in that universal 'wait' gesture. Joe and I decided upon Pinos at one and I hung up.

"I'm sorry Artemis. That was Joe. My ex-boyfriend?" as if that were a good enough reason to cut one of our final visits to the house short.

I gave her just enough background and told her that Clyde was coming with me.

"What can Clyde actually do? He can't pull a gun or punch Joe in the gut if he gets out of line again. Don't you think you should let Lester or someone know what you plan on doing?"

"I don't want a whole Rangeman contingency. Joe is not going to try anything. He said he wants to apologize. Besides, I'd like to see just what he has up his sleeve."

"Let's take a quick look through the house then. I don't think you'll need my assistance after today. The Sweeney's are gone and you seem to have made friends with the remaining spirit, Clyde. I'd love to be able to talk to him like you do, as a shaman that could prove quite valuable. Do you think he might want to talk to me?"

"Clyde?" I asked, knowing he was following us though the house.

I looked at my phone to see if he answered. Nothing. He was either thinking about it, or he wasn't answering on purpose. He used to do that with me too.

"I'll bring it up with him again," I told Artemis once I was satisfied the cleaning crew had removed all the salt they deposited the day before and that the place was spotless. Too bad no one was moving in, but at least the demolition crew wouldn't have to worry about being spooked.

We said goodbye and Artemis promised to send me a bill. Well she could make it out to me, but I'd have to hand it over to Carlos. There wasn't any reserve in my checking account to cover hauntings.

"I'm sure I'll see you again Steph. It was great getting to know you and Ranger. Good luck with the property and with your wedding."

We hugged goodbye and Clyde and I headed off to our lunch date at Pinos. Didn't want to keep Joe waiting.

Joe was already seated at a booth in the back when I arrived. He got up when he saw me and greeted me warmly with a kiss on the cheek.

"Hi Cupcake. How are you doing?"

"I'm doing ok," I said. "Still taking those antibiotics," I added, hoping he'd get the message that I still wasn't too thrilled with him after the stunt he pulled.

"I'm sorry Cupcake. I owe you quite a few explanations. You want to order first?"

I nodded yes and was about to order a meatball sub when I remembered Clyde's aversion to the smell of it last night.

"I think I'll have a hamburger," I said, "extra fries," and I closed the menu.

"No meatball sub today?" Joe asked, looking at me kind of funny.

"Nope," I said, popping the 'p.' "Thought I'd change it up a bit. What are you getting?" I hoped he wouldn't say meatball sub and drive Clyde somewhere else.

"I'll have a hamburger with you. That sounds good." Thank God.

Our waitress left with our orders and I looked at Joe. Lunch was his idea; I wasn't going to start this conversation…again.

"I owe you an apology," Joe finally said. Yeah and what else is new? "I'm sorry I raised my hand to you. It's just that thinking about you with Manoso makes me crazy."

I was ready to get up and leave before this turned ugly again, but I promised myself I'd hear him out.

"Carlos and I love each other Joe…"

"Carlos? Now he's Carlos?" Joe interrupted with a small outburst. "I'm sorry," he said again running his hands through his hair in that exasperated way he used to do when he was upset with me.

"We're getting married. You can either wish us well or you can sulk about it. It's not going to change anything."

"He's a thug."

"He's not a thug. He's a legitimate business man. Rangeman is doing very well because of him. He got a good business head on his shoulders. Be happy for us, please?"

"I'm sorry," he said for the third time in less than ten minutes. He was starting to sound like a broken record.

"Joe, I really wish you'd take care of that little problem you have before it becomes a big problem. At least let Terri know. You owe it to her."

"Stephanie, please. She knows. We're both getting help."

"Good. What is it that you wanted to talk to me about?" I asked just as our food arrived.

"I need a favor," Joe said, taking a bite from his hamburger.

"What is it Joe?" I asked apprehensively, drowning a french fry in the ketchup I had just squeezed onto my plate. For the old Joe I would have said yes, no questions asked. But for this Joe I wasn't signing on for anything until I knew exactly what I was getting myself into.

"Mooch's sister Meena is getting married a week from Saturday and I need a date."

"Joe, I'm engaged. I can't go to a wedding with you. Take Terri."

"It's not that simple. You know she's Vito Grizolli's niece. It wouldn't sit well with my family."

"Then go by yourself."

"I already said I was bringing someone. I RSVP'd while we were still together."

"And you never told me? Joe that's disrespectful."

"I know. I'm sorry. Please?"

"Why don't you ask Robin Russell? She's single and I think she's attracted to you." I hoped I wasn't giving him any ideas. Carlos said he was looking for a Stephanie replacement.

"I work with Robin, I can't ask her."

"Sure you can."

"She's not as pretty as you."

"Joseph Anthony Morelli. That is such a macho thing to say."

"I was hoping you'd go with me," he added sheepishly.

"Why?"

"It would solve a lot of problems."

"No I think it would cause a lot more. How would you explain the diamond ring on my left hand?"

"I was hoping you'd leave it home."

"Not going to happen Joe. Ask Robin."

We finished lunch pretty much in silence. I was glad Joe paid the bill; it was the least he could do after bringing up his crazy hair-brained idea. We said goodbye outside of Pinos and he kissed me on the cheek once again. I noticed him looking intently at the Cayenne before shaking his head and walking towards his SUV. Suddenly he turned back and looked hard at my car again.

"Is there something wrong with my car?" I asked, my gut telling me not to get into it.

"Manoso monitors his fleet, doesn't he? I think you should call Rangeman."

Now he had me freaked out so I called the main number. Sybo answered and I asked him if he could send someone over. I wasn't letting Joe leave until the car was checked out, either remotely or in person. And if that meant me sitting in Joe's car until someone arrived, that's what I was going to do.

About five minutes later a black SUV appeared in the parking lot and slowed down as it approached the Cayenne. "It's Hal," I said to Joe and opened his door to go out to greet my Rangeman saviors. Joe followed me out. Zero and Hal were out of their car and approaching the Cayenne cautiously. Zero held some kind of device that he ran under the car.

"Explosives," he said.

"Stephanie, step away," he added when he read the display.

"I'm going to try to dismantle it, step away," he said again, hitting a button on his remote. There was a small flash under the Cayenne, which fizzled out. Hal and Zero checked their device again and Zero scooted under the car. He pulled out some wires and brought them over to me and Joe.

"Did you see anyone tampering with the car?" Hal asked.

"No. Joe and I just went to lunch, we've been inside for the last forty minutes or so."

Suddenly I wondered if maybe Clyde saw anything and had been trying to warn me. Unfortunately his texts never ping. I pulled out my phone and saw three texts from Clyde.

"Someone just booby trapped your car. Explosives I think."

"He pretended to fob it locked and he's walking away as if it were his car."

"I'm going to try to send an image."

Sure enough there was a very grainy image of a heavy-set man in a dark suit walking away from my car.

"Joe, Hal, Zero, do you know who this is," I asked, showing the picture to the three of them."

"Where did you get this from Cupcake?" Joe asked.

"Do you know him?" I asked again.

"I think that's Rocco Grizolli. Who took this picture?"

"A friend just texted it to me." There was no way I wanted to explain Clyde and some of his strange abilities here in this parking lot. Especially since he was still haunting Joe."

"Can I have that Steph?" Hal asked. "I want to run it through our data base."

"Sure, I'll forward it to you." If it really was Rocco Grizolli, why did he set a bomb under my car? I've never even met him.

"Can I have that too?" Joe asked, as if on second thought.

I sent the image to Hal and Joe and then I also forwarded it to Carlos and Tank, who I knew were probably still in New Brunswick and wouldn't know what this was all about. I guessed the Rangeman database somehow fit into Hal's iPhone because he got a positive ID while we were standing there. It _was_ Rocco Grizolli.

"Do you know him Steph?" Hal asked, looking at my open mouth.

I just shook my head no.

My phone buzzed with a text. I knew it wasn't Clyde, but I got a feeling it was Carlos. I looked down at the phone in my hand. Yep, Carlos.

"What's going on? Why are you sending Tank and I a picture of Rocco Grizolli?"

"Long story," I typed back. "Will tell you tonight. Did you get the Campbell's account?" I added trying to take the attention off of me.

"Yes. What's going on there?"

And then my phone started ringing. Carlos was not going to let this slide until tonight.

"Babe, what's going on? Why are you sending us Rocco Grizolli's picture. And who took that? I've never seen a photo quite like that before."

"Um, Clyde sent it to me. Rocco Grizolli set a bomb under the Cayenne. But don't worry Hal and Zero disarmed it after Joe spotted it."

"Where are you?"

"Pinos parking lot."

"And what are you doing there?"

"Joe invited me to lunch to apologize. I guess Rocco didn't like me being here and tried to get rid of me. Who is Rocco?"

"He's Vito's nephew. Terri's cousin, I think. He's not very bright, and that makes him very dangerous. How did Clyde get this picture?"

"I have no idea. I'll ask him when I have a chance."

"Tank and I are just finishing up. I'll be back at Rangeman in an hour."

"I'm going straight home. Joe's the police so I don't think we need to wait for them to arrive. I'm not sure if the Cayenne is drivable, something fizzled underneath it. But Hal and Zero can take me back. I'll see you in a bit."

Joe, Hal and Zero were staring at me.

"That was Carlos. Um Ranger," I added because no one other than Joe had ever heard me call him Carlos before.

"We'll pick up your car later," Hal said. "I think we're done here. Ready to head back to Rangeman Steph?"

I looked over at Joe to make sure it was ok. I had just _assumed_ we were done here and he'd write up the report.

"It's ok Cupcake, I'll take care of it; you can go."

"Thanks for lunch Joe. Call Robin."

I was sure Hal and Zero had a million questions, but neither asked me anything. Ten minutes later we were back in the garage on Haywood. I wondered if Clyde came with us or if he followed Joe back to the station or wherever it was Joe was going. I took out my phone to find out.

"Where are U?" I texted to the 454-545 number.

"I followed U home. I want to see where U live."

"I actually don't really live here, I'm just staying here with Carlos. My apartment is a firetrap, but come on upstairs. We're on seven."

Hal and Zero were staring at me again. I guessed I owed them some kind of explanation. I was thinking about what to say when I looked down at my phone. Another text.

"Is Carlos Ranger?"

"Yes. Ranger is just a nickname."

"Thought U told me that before."

"Bomber are you going to tell us what's going on?" Zero asked taking me out of my thoughts.

"Well you might as well meet Clyde," I said. "Hector and Lester have already met him. Clyde, this is Hal over here, and that's Zero. Guys this is Clyde. He's a ghost."

Hal went white.

xxxxXXXXxxxx

I was sitting in the living room texting with Clyde when the front door fobbed open. I needed to let Carlos know Clyde was here before he did something we'd both be embarrassed by. I got up and kissed him hello. I whispered "Clyde's here," into his ear.

"Ok Stephanie and Clyde," Carlos said, using my full name for emphasis, "what's going on?"

"Someone, well we know it's Rocco now, tried to blow me up. Joe spotted the wires, and Clyde was busy texting me. I was never in any danger," I said with my fingers crossed.

"Thank God you have a guardian angel, Babe."

It was more like an obsessive ghost, but if Carlos wanted to see him as my guardian angel, I was ok with that.

"How did you take that picture Clyde?"

I looked down at my phone, half worried he wouldn't answer. So far Clyde has only spoken to me.

"I mentally sent what I was seeing to Steph's phone, just the way I send words. I wasn't sure if it would work. Nice meeting you Ranger."

I was happy that Clyde seemed to accept Carlos too. Maybe he'd start texting him directly. We could be like one big happy family. Husband, wife and family ghost.

"Stephanie, you could have gotten blown up. Hal said if the explosives actually went off there would have been nothing left of your car. Or you either for that matter. Dios."

"I would not have let her open the door," Clyde texted.

"How would you have done that?" Carlos asked.

"I can generate enough energy for a handshake. I would have used that energy to push Stephanie out of the way and made her look at her phone. I would not have let anything happen to her."

Obviously I had another overprotective admirer.


	13. Chapter 13—Rolling on the floor crying

_Blinky, Pinky, Inky and Clyde_

This takes place after "It's a new day, it's a new dawn, it's a new year"

A/N Thank you so much for reading along and for all your wonderful reviews. They really do keep me going. :) Thank you :)

M rating (mostly for language)

**Thank you Margaret** for reading ahead as my Beta. :) I much appreciate :)

**And** her insistence that Joe is just a **man **'**ho**, spurred me on :)

Don't own the characters (except for Clyde), just playing :)

**Chapter 13—Rolling on the floor crying**

"Babe should we ask Ella to bring up dinner or would you rather go out? You've had some day."

"Clyde, what would you rather do?" I asked, not even sure if he was still in the apartment with us. It was evening and almost time to haunt Morelli.

"Out," was texted to my phone. "I haven't been out to dinner in almost 68 years."

This was going to be amusing. 'Table for two adults and one spirit.' Oh yeah, that would go over big.

"Clyde wants to go out. Can you think of somewhere really entertaining we can take him?"

"Babe." I could tell by the way Carlos said that, that he was getting annoyed with my wanting to bring Clyde with us. I figured I'd better come up with a good rationale for tonight, otherwise when I brought up building him his own room, Carlos was going to balk.

"If you'd been house-bound for almost 68 years, you'd want to go out too. And he doesn't eat or drink. He'd just be a casual observer."

"Our _casual observer_ better not be observing us in our bedroom," Carlos said flippantly.

"I would never do that," appeared on my screen. "If I'm creating problems for you and Ranger, I'll just go over to Joe's."

"Carlos you hurt Clyde's feelings," I said, showing him the text. "Apologize."

"Clyde, I'm sorry," I said, knowing Carlos probably wouldn't. "Carlos is very protective of me and he doesn't like to share."

"I have an idea," Carlos said, ignoring my apologies. "Rocco lives in a co-op in Hamilton Township. I doubt he's there, he's probably at the Grizolli compound with the rest of the family, but I'd like Clyde to see where he lives. Clyde maybe you can go over there tomorrow and look around? We can go to _Rats_ for dinner, it's right nearby and you'd probably like the place. It's unique."

I was glad Carlos was still including Clyde in our plans. It made me feel better.

There was another text to my phone. "I'd like to try to get into the Grizolli compound tomorrow too and I think I can help Hector use the security cameras there to our advantage. I should be able to get in and out undetected."

I showed the text to Carlos. I could tell by the way he nodded his head that he thought it was a good idea, but he had some apprehensions.

"We're not going to be able to get within five miles of the place, unless…hmmm. Maybe Hector can be some kind of a repairman. He can drive by and point the place out to you while he stops to reprogram his GPS. I can get a cable truck here tomorrow that we can use. Clyde, what do you think?"

"What's a cable truck?"

I had to laugh. Of course he wouldn't know what cable TV was. During his day there probably wasn't even color TV. And since Sweeney was a recluse he probably never had cable brought into the house.

"Cable TV is a way of watching television without interference. The guys that service it drive around in trucks with, I guess, everything they need in them to install the cable boxes." I said. It was the best explanation I could come up with.

"Cable TV uses coaxial cable to bring television signals directly into a house to a cable box which decodes them and allows you to switch channels so that you can watch the broadcasts," Carlos added. "We can probably use that same coaxial cable to record what's going on in the house and rebroadcast it back to us remotely. I'm sure Hector knows how to do that and he can probably show you what to do."

"I don't think I can generate enough energy to use tools. I think I'd serve you better if I used what I do have and sent you pictures and let you know what I was able to learn. I can go back more than once if necessary. Might be more fun than haunting Joe right now," Clyde sent to my screen. "Maybe I could make Rocco fall down the stairs and break something. Payback."

"Since we're including Hector in this plan, shouldn't we let him know?" I asked, silently chuckling about Clyde tripping Rocco.

"I can take him through it in the morning; unless the two of you would rather he come out to dinner with us tonight?"

I was all up for Hector joining us. I thought the more comfortable Clyde felt around the men, the more he'd offer to do. And Carlos did say he was a secret weapon.

"Want me to text him?" I asked. I knew if the text came from me, it would be more likely that Hector would join us. If it came from Carlos, I was afraid Hector might think he did something wrong and that he was going to get fired.

"Sure Babe."

I texted Hector and told him in a few words what was up and asked him to join us. The Cayenne was still out of commission and we wouldn't all fit comfortably in the Turbo, so we agreed to meet in the garage by the Explorer that Hector normally used.

I guessed Clyde would either follow the car or somehow join us for the ride. I'd already learned that he was able to get to wherever it was we were going.

"Hola Chica, Boss. Thank you for inviting me."

"I want you and Clyde to figure out a way to communicate," Carlos said to Hector in lieu of hello. "Clyde thinks he can help you adapt the security cameras at the Grizolli estate so that we can see what's going on. I told him you may have a better solution using the cable TV coax. You guys work it out. Unfortunately I can't give you any men. Grizolli knows most of us and we can't get anywhere near the place. But you are like a chameleon and can change your looks like other men change their clothes. I don't know how you do it, but it's a great asset in this business."

"Gracias. I either hide my tats or I don't. And Clyde and I should be enough men for the job. I know he can get in there undetected. Even if the cameras pick up his phosphorous display they won't know what it is. And as we've noticed he can control that display with his emotions."

"I promise not to get emotional," Clyde texted to me.

"Are you in the car with us Clyde?" I asked since he seemed to know what we were talking about.

"I'm right next to Hector. Your phone was easy to tap into, I'm having a hard time getting my thoughts onto his."

"Hector?" I asked, "do you have some kind of lock on your phone? Clyde wants to talk to you."

"Sí, I password protected and locked. When we get to Rocco's I'll take off the password. I tink it should work then."

"I can't get onto Ranger's phone either," Clyde told me.

"Carlos, Clyde is trying to talk to you too. Are you also doubly protected?"

"Yes. Hector set up all our phones the same way. Why can Clyde get into yours?"

"Um, I kept forgetting my password, so I asked Hector to just turn it off."

"Babe that's not a good idea. We have proprietary information stored on these phones. I'd rather you use that password."

"Then we would have never met Clyde," I said defensively.

"I can change the frequency and I tink Clyde can get through. I'll fix it in the restaurant. Chica, I'll put your password back on. Give me something you'll remember. How about 1015, you can't forget your own birthday."

"How do you know my birthday Hector?"

"It's common knowledge Babe, I'm pretty sure the core team knows it too."

We were outside of a condominium complex when Hector stopped the car. "This is where Rocco lives. 8B. He's on the top floor. He faces the Hamilton Marshes," Hector said taking out his phone to change something around.

"Ok Clyde, try now."

"It works," Hector said, "I got your text.

"Boss if you want to talk to him before we get to the restaurant, just turn your password off. I tink if I just change the frequency of the passwords Clyde can get through, but I'll need a few minutes with each phone."

Carlos took his phone out and fiddled around with something. "Ok it's off. Clyde, want to try me."

I looked over at Carlos' display and saw the text come in. It was from the 454-545 number. "Stephanie is a very beautiful woman and a wonderful person. But don't worry — I'm not trying to steal her from you. I'm dead, remember?"

"A ghost with a sense of humor," Carlos said. "And I'm keeping him to his promise."

I looked down at my iPhone and there was a new text to me from Clyde.

"I'm going to pay Rocco a visit, I'll find you at Rats in a few minutes."

"Do you know where it is?" I asked out loud.

"I know where your phone is. As long as it's with you, I'll find you. I want to look around Rocco's place while we're here. Tomorrow I want to visit the compound."

I showed Carlos my text and he nodded. I was pretty sure it would have been something he'd have done too if he was certain Rocco wasn't home.

"Ok. Stay safe," I texted back to Clyde.

Hector drove us to Rats. It was a kind of a pretty, kind of quirky French restaurant on _Grounds for Sculpture_, the sculpture park in Hamilton. I had never been there before, but I had heard really nice things about it. Lenny took Mary Lou there for their fifteenth anniversary not too long ago. Yeah, Mary Lou and Lenny got married right out of high school. I couldn't imagine being married that long.

Carlos ordered a bottle of wine and a couple of apertifs to have while we thought about the menu. I really wished Clyde could see the place. It was like a storybook village.

I ordered the Steak Frites and both Carlos and Hector chose the Chicken Ballantine. Everything sounded fabulous, even though the menu was not that elaborate.

"What did you order?" came as a text to my iPhone.

Clyde.

"You're here!" I texted back, not wanting to look like an idiot talking to the air, well just in case anyone was watching our table. "Did you find out anything?"

"He's a slop and he likes pornography. It looks like he hasn't been home in a few days. There were rotting bananas on his counter and his apartment stunk like a combination of bananas and dirty socks."

"Yuk."

"He has about ten thousand dollars in small bills in his underwear drawer. I didn't touch anything."

"You are grossing me out."

"Yeah and that reminds me, I have to show you something at the house before you start demolition."

"What?"

"I'll show you tomorrow after Hector and I get back from the compound. I'll text you." "Pretty place," he added with another text.

"Yeah it is."

"I just wanted to see it. I'm off to haunt Joe."

"Wait. Before you go, Hector wants to change the frequencies of the Rangeman password protection. Let's makes sure it works."

"Ok."

I handed my phone over to Hector and just spoke to the air that Clyde wanted to head out. Hector took my phone apart and did something to it with a small screwdriver.

"Ok try it now," Hector said handing it back to me but speaking to Clyde.

"It works," Clyde texted.

"Good. I'll recall all the phones at Rangeman and change everyone's frequency tomorrow before anyone heads out. This way Clyde can talk to anyone he wants to."

"I'm going Steph," Clyde texted again.

"Ok. Be safe."

"I think it's Joe that needs to worry about staying safe. I have a couple of things planned for him. Tell Hector I'll see him at eight."

Hector changed Carlos' and his own frequency while we waited for our meal to arrive. I was wondering what Clyde planned on doing to Joe. I just hoped whatever it was wouldn't put Bob in any jeopardy.

I sipped my wine and tried to enter into the conversation Hector and Carlos were having. They might as well have been speaking in Spanish for all I understood; my thoughts kept going back to Clyde. When I couldn't stand it any longer, I texted him.

"Please don't hurt him."

"Hurt who?" appeared on my screen.

"Joe. I know he's a jerk, but I would feel bad if anything happened to him."

"Don't worry. I'll send you pictures."

I didn't hear anything else from Clyde that night. But I woke up in the morning to find two pictures with my text messages. One showed all the cabinets and drawers in Joe's kitchen wide open. The other had all the clothing in the spare bedroom on the floor of the closet; the hangers they had been on were still in place on the bar. I chuckled to myself. This was exactly the kind of thing that would drive Joe mad.

I was still laughing to myself and contemplating my day when my cell phone buzzed with a call. It was from my grandmother's cell.

"I know where Lawrence Demarest is right now," my grandmother started in, referring to the Lawrence Demarest who was one of my FTAs. "His grandmother Louise just called me. He's at her house this second. If you pick me up right away we can get there while they're still having coffee and cake."

"Grandma, I told you before, he's dangerous. He stabbed one of his employees. Just give me Louise's address and I'll get him."

"If he's so dangerous why are you going by yourself? I could watch your back."

She had a point, but I wasn't buying it.

"I'll pick up Lula on the way there. I'm sorry grandma, I can't put you in danger. Mom would never forgive me if anything happened to you."

My grandmother finally gave me Louise's address and I grabbed all my stuff. I checked to see if my stun gun was charged and surprise, surprise it was. My cuffs were in my bag and my apprehension papers were in order. I was good to go.

The address she gave me was closer to Rangeman than it was the Bond's office. I'd promised Carlos that I wouldn't go off on my own, but if I wanted to catch him, the faster I got there the better.

I didn't want to bother Carlos; he and Tank were back in New Brunswick signing contracts, so I did the next best thing, I texted Clyde.

"Want to help me catch a criminal?"

"I would love to, but Hector just dropped me off at the Grizolli estate. I'll need at least an hour to fix the cameras the way Hector showed me."

An hour was too long; I'd lose Demarest.

"It's ok. We'll do it another time."

I hoped Carlos wouldn't be mad. I went down to the garage, but unfortunately the Cayenne was gone…either for repairs or Carlos took it this morning. There was another set of keys on the chain Carlos had given me. I figured they were probably for the Turbo that was still in its regular parking spot. I pressed the fob and hoped. Yep. They were for the Turbo.

I got in and fobbed myself out of Rangeman. I was at Louise Demarest's house five minutes later. I had my cuffs in my back pocket and my stun gun handy when I rang the bell. A man answered. I knew from grandma that Louise lived alone and was looking to hook up. Either she was dating much younger men or this was Lawrence. I took a chance on this being Lawrence.

"Lawrence Demarest?"

"Yeah? Who wants to know?"

"I'm Stephanie Plum. I represent Plum Bail Bonds. You missed your court date and need to come with me to reschedule."

"The hell I do," he said grabbing my stun gun from me and turning it around to tap me on the arm with it.

I realized as I fell to ground like a sack of potatoes that this wasn't a good idea.

When I came to Demarest was gone. And so was Carlos' turbo. Louise and I were each sitting on kitchen chairs, gags over our mouths. We were bound by rope to the chairs and the chairs were bound, back-to-back, to each other.

Shit.

My bag was about five feet in front of me, the contents spewed all over the floor. I guessed Demarest dumped it to find the keys to the turbo. I could see my cell phone, and if I could get to it we'd be in luck. Unfortunately I had a seventy-year old woman bound to a chair with me, so I couldn't pull my usual stunt of knocking the chair to the ground and swimming my way over.

I gave it a couple of minutes of thought before I had a plan.

"Louise, I'm going to try to get to my phone. When I stand, you'll be on my back. Don't try to fight me or we'll both fall over. Understand."

"Yes," she said in a very weak voice. I could tell she had been crying. 'I'm sorry. He's not a bad boy, he just doesn't want to go back to jail."

Unfortunately the court wasn't going to like this little stunt that he pulled and when I caught up with him, he was going to have to stay there for quite a while.

"Ok, I'm getting up now," I said standing up hunched over, Louise on my back.

I got about five steps before the rope slipped on Louise's chair and she moved sideways. I couldn't support her in that position and the both of us fell to the ground, with me on top of her.

"Louise are you ok?" I asked, panicking.

"I think so. And I think I can reach your bag."

"It's my phone that I want. If you can push it towards us I can use my foot to turn it on, I think."

She used her foot to reach for it, but the linoleum floor was slippery and the phone slipped even further out of her reach. I knew if we stayed in this position for any amount of time my weight on top of her was going to put her limbs to sleep. I desperately wanted to get to my phone, so I told her what I was going to try.

I rolled so that she was on top of me once again and I used my feet and stomach to worm my way towards the phone. I was inches in front of it, but my hands were useless as they were tied to my sides, and my feet were behind me. I had to get closer and try to use my head.

It just wasn't working. The back of the chair hit me in the back of the head whenever I tried raising my chin and if I kept this up I ran the risk of knocking myself out.

Suddenly I felt a rush of air.

"Clyde?" I called.

"There ain't no one here, you must'a knocked yourself in the head too many times. Who you calling to?" Louise said. Yesterday Clyde told me that if my phone was with me, he could get to me. It had to be Clyde.

"Chica?" Oh thank God.

"Hector, we're, in the kitchen."

"Babe," I heard. Oh no, he had to bring Carlos with him. He was going to be angry. Not only did Lawrence steal his car, but he stunned me and tied me up with his grandmother.

I heard footsteps come around to the kitchen door and then a huge belly laugh.

I looked up to see Tank, Carlos and Hector. Tank was laughing so hard he was wiping his eyes. I guessed I was being comic relief once again.


	14. Chapter 14—Crashing Bad

_Blinky, Pinky, Inky and Clyde_

This takes place after "It's a new day, it's a new dawn, it's a new year"

A/N Thank you so much for reading along and for all your wonderful reviews. They really do keep me going. :) Thank you :)

M rating (mostly for language)

**Thank you Margaret** for reading ahead as my Beta. :) I much appreciate :)

**And** it was her insistence that Joe is just a **man **'**ho** that spurred me on :)

Don't own the characters (except for Clyde), just playing :)

**Chapter 14 — Crashing bad**

I gave Tank my best 'Burg girl glare. This just wasn't funny.

"I'm sorry Bomber, but if you just saw what I did, you'd be laughing your ass off too. I guess Hector and Clyde caught up with Demarest. When we pulled up, Demarest was cuffed and sitting in Ranger's turbo. Clyde was _talking_ to him. Demarest was beyond frightened. I'm sure he peed his pants. We'll have to send the Porsche in for detailing, but it was so well worth it. I never saw a black guy go white before."

"So you weren't laughing at me?" I asked, just to be sure.

"Well I gotta tell you, on top of Clyde scaring the bejesus out of Demarest, when I walked in here and saw you squirming around on your belly tied to a chair with Demarest's grandmother on your back, I just lost it. I'm sorry Bomber. I didn't mean to laugh _at _you."

"You know what? Fuck you Tank. I am not a joke. And you know what else? Fuck you Hector and fuck you _**RANGER**_. Goddamn the lot of you. Louise can I use your phone to call a car?"

"Of course you can."

I called the Chambersburg car service and asked them to pick me up at Louise's house and take me back to my apartment. I was not going to be anyone's joke ever again. Goddamn the whole lot of them.

I took the engagement ring _Ranger_ gave me off of my finger and placed it down hard on Louise's kitchen counter. I locked eyes with Tank so he could see what I was doing as _Ranger_ had stepped outside to talk to Demarest. I was not going to be viewed as a joke. Not this afternoon, not tonight and not at anytime in the future. Fuck all of them.

Hector and Tank were keeping their distance from me and Ranger was still talking to Demarest so when I saw the car service approach the house, I gathered up my bag and made a beeline for it. I did not want Ranger or Tank or anyone stopping me.

I paid my fare and ran up the stairs to my apartment. I couldn't be bothered waiting for the elevator. I dropped my keys twice trying to open my lock; I guessed my hands were shaking. When I finally got the door open, I stepped inside and I burst out crying. What the hell was I doing?

I was resorting to the breakup tactics I used to use with Joe.

I slid down the wall to the kitchen floor. Once I landed, I grabbed a hold of my knees and lowered my head to form a human ball. My sobs were uncontrollable and I felt embarrassed to even know myself. I'd just thrown my life away. What the fuck was wrong with me?

I don't know how long I was sitting like that when I felt a hand lift up my chin. I half expected to be looking into Carlos' dark eyes, but no one was there.

"Clyde?" I said, knowing it could only be Clyde.

I dug my hand into my bag and pulled out my phone to see if I had any text messages. I had none, but one appeared as I watched the screen.

"Everyone is concerned about you. Tank said you just had an adrenaline crash and he thinks you crashed hard. Are you ok?"

"I'm such an idiot," I said. "Did I fuck up things with Carlos?" I added.

"I don't know. He seemed angry that you ran away instead of going to him."

"Yeah, it's a problem I have. You know, a pattern?"

"Do you want me to let him know that you're ok? Or do you need more time to yourself?"

"I threw my engagement ring down on Louise's counter. He'll never forgive me."

"He's worried about you."

"I had a meltdown."

I knew Clyde was with me but neither one of us said anything. He allowed me my space, and I took it. I couldn't stop the tears that seemed to fall nonstop from my eyes. I was a mess.

I wasn't sure how long I had been sitting there when I heard my locks tumble. Someone was coming into my apartment.

"Babe?" Carlos asked tentatively.

"On the floor. I'm sorry," I said bursting into tears all over again.

Suddenly strong arms picked me up and held me tight.

"Babe. Are you ok?"

I shook my head no, tears streaming from my eyes. "I'm sorry Carlos. I acted like a child."

"Shhh Babe. It's ok. But you left something at Louise's," he said, picking up my left hand and sliding my ring back on.

"I don't know what came over me, I just felt like I needed to get away when Tank started laughing."

"It's ok Babe, you suffered an adrenaline crash. Your body loaded up on adrenaline when you were trying to get free and then when help arrived, you crashed. It's not uncommon. You've been through it before, but I guess no one ever told you what was happening."

"I'm not going crazy?"

"No Babe."

"Thank you God. Do you still love me?" I added tentatively.

"Always Babe. And I'm sorry you had to go through this. At least Tank pocketed your ring before Louise had a field day trying to pawn it."

"I'm sorry Carlos, I wasn't thinking. I love you so much. And I really thought I fucked it up for us. I'm sorry."

"Shhh. It's ok Babe."

"How did you know where I was?"

"Your secret weapon."

"Thank you Clyde," I whispered.

"Babe, I think you'll feel better if you do a little exercise. How about we take a run to the park and I'll fill you in on some things?"

"Run? Carlos, do you know who you are talking to?"

"We've run together before. I know you can do it. You'll feel so much better afterwards. Trust me."

I don't know what happened to Clyde, but it didn't _feel_ like he was in the apartment anymore. Maybe he left to haunt Joe. But anyway I found some leggings, a sports bra and a T-shirt and Carlos helped me to change. I was putting on sneakers when I looked over at my cell and saw a new text.

"Ask Ranger to tell you about the Grizollis."

"Clyde wants you to tell me what he and Hector found out today," I said tying my laces and looking up at him.

"I thought I'd tell you while we ran."

"Ok." "Clyde, where are you?" I texted back.

"I'm at Joe's. I just let the dog out."

"Don't let anything happen to Bob," I texted back. "He's a good boy."

"He had to go."

"Had to go like you eliminated him? Or he had to pee."

"Pee. Poor guy was about to explode."

"Thank you :)"

"Carlos said he's going to tell me about the Grizollis while we run. Text me later and let me know that everything is ok."

"I could say the same to you. Be safe."

"Thanks again Clyde."

"De nada."

"I think Clyde and Hector made a good team," I said to Carlos, showing him the most recent text before putting my phone back into my bag.

"I'm going to get some workout gear from the truck. I'll be right back," Carlos said, smiling at Clyde's text and pulling me in close to kiss me before going out the door. I guessed Demarest really did lose control of his bladder in the turbo if Carlos had the_ truck_. Ewww. He probably sent it right off to the car wash.

It was barely above freezing out, so I threw a sweatshirt on top of everything and once Carlos came back up and changed we headed out.

I hadn't run in a long time and the cold air made my lungs hurt. I knew there was a good reason why we were doing this, but I wasn't happy about it.

"Carlos slow down, my lungs are burning," I said…barely.

"Two more minutes. You need to expel the extra adrenaline you built up earlier. You won't be able to sleep and you'll feel irritated all night if you don't get it out of your system."

"Tell me what Clyde and Hector did then, I need to keep my mind off of my lungs," I barely got out.

"Hector showed Clyde how to turn the coax and security cameras into transmitters that would be able to broadcast the goings on in the house back to us. He knew Clyde wouldn't be able to use tools to achieve what they wanted so he came up with a solution that _could_ work. All Clyde had to do was push the fittings on the video ports and turn them."

"And he was successful?"

"Yes. Hector says we're broadcasting live right now…right into Rangeman."

"Cool!"

As much as I hated to admit that Carlos was right about going for a run, I felt calmer and less agitated. It might have also been that everything that could have possibly gone wrong didn't. Carlos didn't hate me for acting out, in fact he understood and even had a name for it and Clyde was able to get in and out of the Grizollis unannounced and undetected. There was just one thing I still needed to know.

"So did Demarest really pee himself in your car, or did Tank make that up?"

"I don't want to talk about it."

"He did, didn't he?" I asked.

When Carlos didn't answer, I stopped running and burst out into hysterical laughter. "My FTA relieved himself in your turbo. Come on Carlos, that's funny," I said, tears running from my eyes again. Only this time they were tears of laughter.

"It's not funny. I might have to get a new car and I like this one."

I didn't want him getting all pissy on me. He'd been so understanding about my adrenaline crash that I just let it drop and picked up the pace once again. We were almost back to my apartment and I saw a shower in my future.

As we got closer to my building I noticed that in addition to Carlos' truck there was another brand new, shiny black vehicle. I wondered what was going on.

"Carlos? Who's SUV is that?"

"We switch up cars, so no one except for Hector who needs his equipment has the same SUV everyday. Could be anyone."

I headed for the elevator but when Carlos flashed me a look like 'you've got to be kidding,' I followed him up the stairs to my apartment. My door was locked, but that wasn't a shock, the guys tumble my locks all the time.

I used my key and called out before I opened the door.

"Hello?"

"Hey Bomber, I hope your not still mad at me, I brought you a peace offering," I heard Tank's voice say. And then I smelled my peace offering. Pizza.

"Aw Tank, you didn't have to do that," I said walking into my kitchen and giving the big guy a big hug. Then I turned around and noticed Lester, Hector and Bobby sitting in my living room.

"I stopped at Shorty's and got enough for everyone," Tank said. "Bobby and Hector insisted on coming to see how you were feeling and Santos, well Santos just came along for the pizza.

"Don't believe him Beautiful," Lester said getting up and coming over to pick me up and twirl me around. "I was worried about you too. I'm not really the insensitive guy these dudes make me out to be."

"I know that Lester. Thank you guys, this is so sweet."

"All Tank's doing," Bobby chimed in. "I see Ranger took you out for a run. We can throw the pizza in your oven to keep it warm while you shower."

"Do I stink that badly?" I asked, thinking pizza sounded better than a shower right now.

"No but he does," Lester said, nodding towards Carlos.

With the guys here there was no way we were taking a shower together, even if I used the conserving water excuse. Carlos went in first while Tank put the pizzas, still in their boxes, into my oven. Hector produced beer and Bobby a couple of bottles of wine. Someone took my mismatched glasses out of my cabinet and Lester found a corkscrew. Teamwork.

I was tempted to forego the shower altogether until after we ate, but when Carlos came out smelling nice and clean and fresh, I decided that fifteen minutes longer wouldn't kill me.

I did what I had to do as quickly as possible and instead of taking my time to get my hair to behave I just put it up in a pony tail. We weren't going anywhere so I skipped the mascara and stepped out both clean _and_ hungry.

"Babe, you look beautiful," Carlos said, coming over to pull me in tight for a kiss in front of his men.

Oh God. Maybe if I just pretended I was sick everyone would leave and I could have Carlos all to myself. But then I remembered the pizza. And Shorty's pizza was almost as good as Pinos. No I could control myself.

We broke from the kiss and made our way to my dining room. Someone had set the table and the guys had already made themselves at home. Beers were open and wine was in glasses.

Tank pulled the pizza boxes from the oven and opened them. I thought he was being lazy, but his technique seemed to work. The cardboard kept the pizza from either sogging out or drying out. It looked perfect and smelled amazing.

After Tank put some slices on plates and passed them around, he lifted up his beer bottle in a toast.

"To Bomber. Who always gets her man," he said and winked at Carlos.

I could have taken that the wrong way and got all pissed off again, but I didn't. Tank was a good friend and meant well.

I thought our little celebration should include Clyde so I got my phone out of my bag, took a picture of the table and texted it to him.

"Look what you're missing. Come on over."

I got back a picture of Joe looking a little freaked out and holding ice to his cheekbone.

"Look what YOU'RE missing."

"What happened?"

"He tripped over Bob and slammed into an open cabinet door."

"Did you uh, help?"

"Who me? :)"

"Babe? What are you doing?" Carlos asked, interrupting my chuckle.

"I was inviting Clyde over and he sent me this," I said and passed the picture around for everyone to see.

I could feel the electricity change. I knew Clyde was with us.

"Clyde," I said in lieu of a greeting. "Guys, this is the man who should get the toast."

"To Clyde," Hector said, raising his beer bottle.

"To Clyde," I echoed.

I looked down at my phone.

"Thank you" appeared. "I need to show you something at your house before the demolition crew gets there," he added.

"Now?"

"It can wait. But not too long."

"Tomorrow?"

"I heard Ranger on the phone, he's bringing in the foreman tomorrow afternoon to look at the place. I'll meet you at the house at 9."

"Can I bring Carlos?"

"The surprise is for you, but you can bring him if you want."

"After today I don't think he'll let me out of his sight?"

"Then bring him. It's his house too."

Just what could Clyde have for me? The cleaning crew already found the watch and the photo album.

"A hint?" I texted.

"It's old."

Great big help that was. Everything in that house was old.


	15. Chapter 15—Things are not always what th

_Blinky, Pinky, Inky and Clyde_

This takes place after "It's a new day, it's a new dawn, it's a new year"

A/N Thank you so much for reading along and for all your wonderful reviews. They really do keep me going. :) Thank you :)

M rating (mostly for language)

**Thank you Margaret** for reading ahead as my Beta. :) I much appreciate :)

**And** it's her insistence that Joe is just a **man **'**ho** that spurred me on :)

Don't own the characters (except for Clyde), just playing :)

**Chapter 15—Things are not always what they seem**

I guessed I yawned a few times during and after dinner. I did have an exhausting afternoon of rolling on the floor with Louise Demarest and Carlos' idea of going for a run certainly didn't make my day any less tiring.

"Bomber, are we keeping you up?" Bobby asked, looking at me seriously. "Can I take your blood pressure? I want to make sure you aren't suffering any lingering effects of your adrenaline high."

"Be my guest," I said rolling up my sleeve while Bobby got his medic bag.

Bobby did his thing. "90/60. Your blood pressure is kind of low. Are you feeling ok?"

"I feel a little light headed, but I always do after a day like today."

"I think you need more zinc and magnesium in your body. Especially zinc. It's calming to your nervous system. There's a health food store on Broad. I'll go out and pick you up some and then I think we should leave and let you rest."

"You don't have to Bobby. I can get some during the week."

"It's not a big deal Steph and I'd rather make sure you got the right dosage. I'll be back in ten minutes. Tank, keys?"

Tank reached into his pocket and threw the keys to Bobby, who already had his jacket on.

"Some Tastykakes might be nice while you're out too," I added just as he was leaving. "I could really go for a Butterscotch Krimpet right now."

"That stuff'll kill you Babe and I don't think they carry them in the health food store."

"They are not that bad. I read the ingredients once. Two krimpets are only 240 calories."

"Babe."

Bobby came back with two bottles and instructed me to take one magnesium and two zinc every day. He didn't bring back any Tastykakes though so I yawned through his doctorly diatribe.

The guys left right after that.

"Babe, do you want to stay here tonight?"

"You're not going to leave me here alone are you?"

"No. But I was thinking we could go back to Rangeman. Rex and most of your things are there. And this way you could get a good night's sleep and a high protein breakfast in the morning. It would help with the after-effects of your adrenaline crash."

"I really should give up this apartment, shouldn't I?"

"I would never ask you to do that. If you want to stay here tonight, we can stay. I'll ask one of my men to stop at Ella's and bring breakfast over for us in the morning."

It seemed like a lot to ask just so I could stay in my drafty apartment with my lumpy mattress and unplumpable pillows. Rex wasn't even staying here any longer. He was living the life of luxury on Carlos' kitchen counter. And besides what would happen if one of his men let himself in with breakfast and Carlos and I were in the middle of some kind of sex act? No, it was better to go to Rangeman.

"Ok, let's go to Haywood," I said. It was the possibility of one of his men catching us in bed together that was the clincher. At least no one could let themselves into Ranger's apartment unannounced.

I grabbed a few things; my faux Ed Hardy flannel pjs that I wore when I wanted to feel better topped the list and we headed out to Ranger's truck for the short ride back to Rangeman.

"Carlos, Clyde wants to show me something at the house tomorrow before the demolition guys show up."

"I can take you over, what time are you meeting him?"

"He said to be there at nine."

"Shit Babe, I have a nine o'clock meeting with my lawyer. He wants us to take out an insurance policy before we start any demolition work. Brett or Sybo can bring you over there, both will just be coming off rotation and wouldn't mind putting in a few hours of overtime."

"I can't ask them to get overtime pay because of me."

"Of course you can. I think they'd prefer this to hazard pay for dealing with your grandmother."

"Do you really pay the guys hazard pay for grandma?"

"Babe." I guessed he did.

"Do you know what he wants to show you? Can it wait till the afternoon then? I'm bringing John Bucci over at one to look at the place and get an estimate on the work. He's bringing some dumpsters with him so we should be there for a while."

"What are you going to tell him? 'My fiancé's ghost wants to show her something in the house. Just leave them alone for a while?' I think I'd rather Brett or Sybo."

Carlos put his phone into the hands' free well on the dash of the truck and asked his phone to call Brett. I half expected it not to work. That stuff never works for me. Brett picked up right away and Carlos asked him if he could take me over to the house and wait for me in the morning.

"Am I meeting Clyde?" his voice came through the speaker, sounding a little shaky. I guessed all of Rangeman had heard about him by now, and I was surprised that a big bad fearless guy like Brett would be afraid of someone as non-threatening as Clyde.

"Yes. You can bring Sybo with you if you want," I said, hoping that would help with his anxiety.

"He's not going to hurt you," I added when a reply was not forthcoming.

"Id rather pick up your grandmother," he mumbled. Carlos and I had to put the phone on mute, neither one of us could stop laughing.

"Brett," Carlos said after we got ourselves under control. "Steph will be ready at 8:45, she'll meet you in the garage," and he hung up.

"What a chickenshit."

xxxXXXXxxx

I was so glad we went to Rangeman. Carlos and I spent some quality time together; his perfect sheets were almost as perfect as his perfect body and breakfast was waiting for me when I got out of the shower.

I couldn't complain.

"Babe, call or text me and let me know what it was that Clyde was so intent on showing you."

"I will," I said wrapping my arms around Carlos and reaching up for a kiss. God. When he pulled me in for an even deeper one I started thinking it would be ok for us both to be a little late to our meetings.

"Babe that is some evil smile." Carlos said, looking at me closely when we broke apart.

"Sorry. A girl can dream, can't she?"

"I'll see you back here later. Text me."

I finished getting dressed and got into the elevator. When it opened on the garage level there were Brett and Sybo waiting for me in an idling Explorer. So much for Brett getting braver overnight.

I got in the back seat and gave Brett, who was driving, directions to the house. I was tempted to use his fear of things unknown to my advantage, but I decided that was a little mean. As soon as I felt Clyde's presence, I'd introduce the three of them.

I fobbed us in when we got to the gate and Brett headed up the hill to the house. I had my cellphone out of my bag to check for texts from Clyde, but so far there was nothing.

When we got to the front steps, I opened my door and got out. I noticed Brett hadn't shut off the car.

"Do you intend to let this idle for a few hours?" I asked. "Carlos won't like you wasting all that gas."

"Ok, if I have to, I have to," he said, turning off the ignition and opening his door to join me. Thankfully Sy followed and I didn't have two babies on my hands.

I opened the door and called out to Clyde. "Hey, we're here. Where are you?"

"I'm upstairs," came the text. "Back bedroom on the third floor and I think we could use some help."

I showed Brett and Sy the text and we headed up the stairs.

I could feel Clyde before he texted me again.

"Guys, I said," talking to Brett and Sy, "I want you to meet Clyde Darby. Clyde, this is Brett and Sybo," I said pointing to each in turn. "Clyde can talk to you if you check your text messages and there is really no need to text him back if he's in the same room. He can hear us. It's just easier for him to text than to talk. Isn't that right Clyde?"

"It sure is," he said out loud…and Brett passed out.

Once Sy and I revived Brett, got him to sit up and gave him a glass of water, I apologized.

"I'm sorry Brett, I should have told you that Clyde can speak. Um, yesterday he made my FTA pee himself in Carlos' Porsche, if that makes you feel any better."

Brett was still looking a little white and I don't think my joke went over too well.

"Why don't you just sit here; Sybo and I can help Clyde with whatever it is he wants to show me. We're not going anywhere, we'll be right here."

Then I turned to where I thought Clyde was standing, or whatever it was that ghosts did when they weren't haunting someone.

"Are you ready? Sy and I can help."

I looked down at my phone and Clyde had sent some instructions.

"Third plank in left hand corner by the window comes loose. We need to pry it up."

I walked over to where I thought that might be and I stopped.

"Here Clyde?"

"Yes."

I didn't have any tools on me to use to pry up a floorboard; I figured my emery board would snap. "Sy do you have anything in the car?"

"Be right back."

Sy returned with a small crowbar and put it to the plank. It came up easily enough; I don't think it was nailed down.

"Reach under towards the left wall," Clyde texted. "It's heavy, you'll both need to lift it up."

I got on one side and Sy on the other and I felt around to where Clyde was indicating. I felt an oblong object and pointed it out to Sybo. Once we figured the best way to bring it up, we worked in tandem and finally wedged it out. Clyde was right; it was heavy.

It was a strongbox, about two feet long, a foot wide and a foot deep. I tried to open the lid but it was locked.

"Clyde, I think we need a key."

"Reach under the plank again. Down by the subfloor. There is a ribbon attached to it."

I felt around, but couldn't find anything. "Sy, do you have a flashlight?" I asked knowing he did. Maglites are as good for bashing heads as they are for illuminating the way and are standard Rangeman issue. Sy took his flashlight off his utility belt and turned it on. He swept the light around and into the cavity under the floor.

"I see it," he said finally. "It might be out of your reach, let's change places."

I got up and stepped to the other side of the chasm left by the missing floorboard and Sy moved over to where I had been crouching. He reached his considerably longer arm in and pulled the key out by its ribbon, which he handed to me.

I put the key in the lock and it fit, although it wouldn't turn. It felt like the mechanism was rusty and I didn't want to snap the key.

"It's not turning. Sy do you have any WD40?"

"In the glove compartment. This is my second trip Steph, you owe me."

"I'll take you to lunch," I said batting my eyes and giving him my best 'Burg girl smile. It always worked with Lester. Sy smiled and shook his head; he knew what I was doing. He got up and headed down the stairs again.

He returned a few minutes later with a canister of WD40-the kind with the long straw-like nozzle. Good thinking.

He sprayed into the keyhole and let it sit for a few seconds to do its thing. Then I put the key back in and turned it. It opened.

"Oh my God," I said, seeing the contents. "Clyde this is money."

"That's why I wanted you to get to it before the demolition crew found it. Take it. Sweeney can't use it any more."

"Clyde, there has to be at least ten thousand dollars in here," I said noting the hundreds dollar bills.

"Couple of million I think," he texted back.

"I can't take this. We have to return it to its rightful owner."

"Sweeney has no family, that's why the place was on the block. You and Ranger own the house now, this belongs to you."

"What about all those back taxes he owed, shouldn't this go to pay them?"

"The house went to the state to pay the taxes, just accept it."

"I can't. It doesn't feel right."

"Talk to Ranger. In the meantime take it. If you don't the demolition crew will. And I'd rather you have it."

"Thank you. I'm still not comfortable with this, but if they took it that would be stealing."

"I'll text Ranger and let him know what you found."

"I didn't _find_ it. You showed me where to dig," I said adamantly.

"Same difference."

I got another incoming text. It buzzed. Not Clyde. I looked at my display. Carlos.

"Clyde told me what you found. Bring it home and we'll talk about it."

No one seemed to understand how _I_ felt. I didn't want to take someone else's money. I looked over at Sybo to see what he thought. He looked noncommittal. His blank face was clearly in place.

"Brett?" I asked.

"Stephanie, I don't know what to tell you. If your spirit and your fiancé are telling you to take the box to Rangeman, then I would take the box to Rangeman. I mean if you found a genie bottle in between those floorboards, what would you do with it? You'd bring it back to Ranger and the two of you would decide its fate. Think of this as a genie bottle."

That made as much sense as anything else, so I thanked Clyde and decided to take the box.

After we put the floor plank back in place Sybo and Brett picked up the box for me and we brought it out to the Explorer. I had locked the box and I put the ribbon around my neck. I was fingering the key while I thought.

"Clyde. Come with me to Rangeman. Please?"

"I want to be here where the foreman arrives."

"You will be, Carlos is meeting him here at one."

"Ok, I'll see you on seven in fifteen minutes."

I never knew how Clyde got from one place to another, he said he just thought himself places, but I knew he wasn't in the car with us. I was really having a dilemma. I hoped between the three of us we would be able to figure out what to do with the money.

While Brett drove I took my iPad out. I googled George and Martin Sweeney, Trenton NJ. I was hoping some genealogy chart would pop up so I could find a next of kin. It seemed like Sweeney was a pretty common name and I did find a Martin L. Sweeney who was a politician during those years. I thought I might be on to something, but his whole family line was from Ohio, never having set foot in New Jersey.

I guessed Clyde could tell what I was doing. "There are no next of kin. The family line died when Martin passed away. He was the last of them," Clyde texted me.

"I have to see for myself," I texted back, looking up a Joseph Sweeney who was a Broadway stage actor during the same period of time. "What about him?" I texted Clyde. If he knew what I was doing, maybe he could see my screen.

"Not related."

"Didn't Artemis tell us that George Sweeney and his wife sold the place to Martin after the kids moved out of the house? What happened to those kids?"

"Michael was gay, he died of AIDS around 1979. Margaret never married. She joined the convent and passed away in 2001. There are no next of kin. Believe me."

I was getting frustrated, but we were back at the Rangeman garage now and within a few minutes, Carlos would be adding his opinion to the mix. Brett and Sy helped me bring the box into the elevator. They got off on five; I guessed to check in and do a time stamp.

I continued up to seven and was holding the elevator door open with my foot and trying to fob from the elevator when Carlos came out to help me.

"Is this the box Babe?"

"Duh?"

"I'll take it from you. Clyde is inside."

I guessed he told me that so I wouldn't jump his bones in front of Clyde. Looks like he hadn't figured out that I could sense Clyde's presence, much the same way I sense his. And I didn't want to think about that one too long.

"Did he tell you anything?"

"No. Just that you are in a quandary."

Once we got inside, I gave Carlos the key so he could see for himself what the box contained. He took the cash out and started going through it. I wasn't sure if he was counting it or what. But he suddenly stopped.

"Babe did you look at the dates on these bills?"

"No, I barely touched them."

"This money couldn't have belonged to Martin or George Sweeney. There is not a bill here with a date later than 1940. My guess is that these bills were placed in this strongbox around then."

I thought about that for a second. "Clyde? Explain yourself," I said out loud.


	16. Chapter 16Surprise, Surprise

_Blinky, Pinky, Inky and Clyde_

This takes place after "It's a new day, it's a new dawn, it's a new year"

A/N Thank you so much for reading along and for all your wonderful reviews. They really do keep me going. :) Thank you :)

M rating (mostly for language)

Thank you Margaret for reading ahead as my Beta. :) I much appreciate :)And it's her insistence that Joe is just a man 'ho that spurred me on :)

Don't own the characters (except for Clyde), just playing :)

_**Chapter 16—Surprise, Surprise**_

"I hadn't thought about the dates on the money," the text appeared on my phone. "Ranger is very perceptive. Yes it was mine."

"Don't you have anyone it can go to? What about your brother Elliott's family? His kids, grandkids?"

"They are greedy sons of bitches. I'd never give them another penny. They wiped out the legitimate bank accounts I had and you know what they used them for? They bought a cruise line. Not a ship, a line and you know what they did with it? When they got bored playing entrepreneurs they left the ships in port. Unattended. To rot. They will never get another penny of my money. Ever. No, Stephanie, I want this to go to you. You and Ranger. You'll put it to good use."

"Clyde," Ranger spoke, "we'll have to let my lawyers know about this. We can say Stephanie found it at the house, but old bills like this will cause a stir if they are introduced into circulation. And I'm sure we'll have to pay taxes of some sort. What were you intending to do with this money?"

"Well Elliott and I made millions with our bootlegging business. We also owned a few restaurants and nightclubs, which were legitimate, but the majority of our fortunes came from bootlegging. I put as much in the bank as I could without raising eyebrows. You are holding the rest."

"There's over two million dollars here," Ranger said. "In the 1940's that was a lot of money."

"I never expected to die so young. I was going to live off of this money into my old age. You know what I'd like to use it for? To put _your_ children through college."

"We don't have any children." I was quick to answer and maybe not in a nice way. Well, Carlos was looking at me funny anyway. And of course I couldn't see Clyde's expression.

"Babe?"

"I'm sorry I didn't mean it like that. I was just caught off guard. Isn't there a charity or something we can give it to?"

"I want you to invest it wisely and do with it as you see fit. Grow Rangeman. Build your house. Take a vacation. Treat your parents. I'm serious. If I have to put it in writing, I will."

"How can you do that, you're dead."

"I may be dead, but I can communicate. You're reading my writing right now."

He had a point.

"I don't know what to say Clyde," I said finally. "Thank you."

"Isn't it time for us to leave, Ranger?" Clyde texted, obviously trying to change the subject. "We have a meeting with the demolition crew."

"The foreman, yes. Stephanie, do you want to come?"

I hadn't thought about it. In fact I hadn't thought about anything since this strongbox fell into my hands this morning. Maybe it would be a good idea.

"Ok, I'll come with you. Is there someplace we can put this?" I asked, pointing to the box.

"My safe is as secure as Ft. Knox. Is that ok?"

I smiled and nodded at him.

We took the elevator down to the garage and I was very surprised to see the Cayenne back in one of Carlos' personal parking spots. It wasn't there when I came in with Brett and Sy less than an hour ago.

I guessed Carlos knew it was arriving because he had the keys with him. He fobbed the car open and helped me in. He made sure I was belted in tight before kissing me and walking over to the driver's side. I wondered if Clyde saw that little interplay? And then I wondered what he thought about it? He probably liked it. He seems as chivalrous as Carlos.

"He really loves you," appeared on the digital display of my iPhone.

I guessed he saw our interaction.

"I know. And I love him too," I typed back, not wanting Carlos to hear us talking about him.

"You're going to have beautiful children," he responded.

What was it with him and children today? Jeez.

"And?" I typed back.

"Nothing. Just making an observation. You are both very attractive. You will make beautiful children."

I was trying to figure out where all of this was coming from and something hit me, so I asked.

"Did you wish you had children?"

"I wished I had found someone that wasn't after me for my money and yes, then I would have liked to have been a father."

"What about Hedy? She was a movie star in her own right, she didn't need your money?"

"Babe, what are you doing?" Carlos asked while I was typing away furiously.

"Talking to Clyde. I'll tell you later."

Clyde hadn't answered me. Maybe I pushed him too far. I was ready to type an apology when a text appeared on my phone.

"I think she would have preferred being a prostitute."

That's not nice to say," I said out loud, quickly deciding that I didn't care what Carlos heard.

"Not nice, but true. There seemed to be something missing from her life and she tried to make up for it with sex. Lots of sex."

"Well, that could have been enjoyable," I ventured, speaking out loud again.

"It wasn't. She would come to me, smelling like she was just with someone else. I don't think any one person could have made her happy."

I didn't know what to say to that, but luckily we were pulling up to the gate of our property and Carlos slowed the car to fob us in.

Then a thought hit me as we started moving again. It was something Clyde had said early on about Hedy; that she came to see him once after she had been beaten. And Artemis said that in her autobiography she spoke about being beaten and raped a number of times. It always bothered me that if I hadn't been there for Lula, she probably would not have made it. She was raped, beaten to within an inch of her life and left to die on my fire escape. Maybe Clyde would be open to using some of his money to help women who were in similar situations with nowhere to turn?

I wanted to see what Carlos thought before I threw the idea out to Clyde.

Carlos had placed his phone in the hands-free well on his dash before we left the garage. Its buzzing took me out of my thoughts.

"Speak," he said, negotiating the hill and pulling up in front of the house.

"It's John Bucci. I'm at your gate."

"Ok, someone will be right down to let you in." He turned to me, "Steph do you want to take the Cayenne down and introduce yourself to John? I want to look inside for a minute."

"Sure," I said, climbing over the console to the driver's side.

I had gone to school with John's younger brother James, so I kind of knew the family. I thought he might have been in Val's class, but I wasn't positive. I'd have to ask.

I got out of the car and fobbed the gate open from the inside. John had a huge truck with him, the kind that picked up and dropped off dumpsters. And it looked like he was bringing two up to the house. Seemed to me we'd need more than that, but what did I know.

"Hi John," I said extending my hand to the driver and sole occupant of the truck. "Stephanie Plum. I'm Carlos' fiancé."

"Valerie's little sister?"

I hated being referred to as her little sister. "Yep, that's me."

"Nice to meet you. Wasn't Jimmy in your class?"

"He was. What's he doing now?" I asked more to be polite than because I really cared. He was never one of my favorite people.

"Divorced, two kids, works for me. You'll probably see him at the house. He's the one that usually dismantles the plumbing."

"Oh great," I said, less than enthusiastically. I was thinking I'd get the schedule and stay far away on days when it looked like they might be removing pipes.

"The house is just up the hill, you can see it from here. Carlos went in to look at something. Follow me," I said getting back in the Cayenne and leading the way.

When we got up to the house, Carlos was on his phone and not looking too happy. He nodded to us, then walked around to the side of the building to continue his call. I got the feeling that whatever he was hearing wasn't good news.

I didn't know how long he'd be so I took the initiative and opened the house to take John inside and show him around.

"The hardest things to dismantle are old heating and plumbing systems," he said. "Can you show me the basement, I want to know what we're up against."

I was pretty sure I was over the scary staircase that led to the basement, but I wasn't one hundred percent positive. I was kind of hoping that Clyde would follow us down and that the lights didn't flicker.

"The only way down there is by taking the servants' staircase. It's a little tight; I hope you're not claustrophobic," I added opening the small door and tuning on the overhead lights.

I could sense Clyde was with me so I felt better and made my way down as quickly as possible. When I got to the bottom, I knew I had to step into the dark earth-floored basement to turn on another overhead light and this had me more than a little squeamish. But when I reached the bottom, the light mysteriously went on just as my hand reached around the corner. Thank you Clyde.

"Be careful, it's an earth floor," I said, stepping inside. "I'm not sure how to turn the boiler on. I hope you don't need it running or we'll have to wait for Carlos."

"No I'm good. I'm actually shocked that it still works. This is a relic."

John was looking around and taking some measurements when I heard Carlos making his way down the stairs.

"Hi John, sorry about that," he said coming around behind the boiler to shake John's hand. "Can I leave you alone for a few minutes? I need to talk to Stephanie."

"Of course. Take your time."

"Thanks. Steph can you come upstairs with me?"

Steph. Not Babe? Something was up.

He took me into the living room and sat me down. He took both of my hands in his and looked me straight in the eyes. Shit.

"Babe, something's come up. I've been asked to go away for a few weeks. I'm sorry. I have to go."

"I thought you said as of January first you were free from your government contract?"

"That's true. I am. But I've been asked to do a favor for the White House. Very few people have…" Carlos paused as if to think about how to word what he needed to tell me without giving away family secrets. "…The specialized skills to do this job successfully."

"And you do?"

"Probably one of three in the world."

"Is it risky?"

"For someone less skilled it would be very risky, yes."

"And for you?"

"There is still a moderate amount involved, but I've done it before."

"Carlos, I'm scared. I don't want you to go."

"I'll be back before you know it. But I'd like for you to act as supervisor on this demolition. Someone needs to make sure the job is done to our standards. Yes John is good, but he won't be doing all the work himself. If you could take care of it, I'd feel better about leaving."

"Of course," I answered, but my mind was elsewhere. "Can you get in touch with me or will you be totally in the wind."

"Unfortunately I'll be out of touch. But as soon as I'm back stateside I'll text you. Maybe you can meet me in DC? I'm going to have to go through a government debriefing and it may not be on my first day back. I'd rather be with you. We can take a hotel room and maybe see a little of Washington." "Or not," he added with a wolf grin.

"When do you have to leave?"

"Tomorrow morning."

Shit.

"Babe. Let's go out to dinner. I'll let Ella know."

I nodded ok. I had wanted to run my idea for Clyde's money by him. Now that seemed like a waste of whatever precious time we had left together. But it _was_ important. I'd have to find the time to tell him.

Carlos called Rangeman and asked Hal to make reservations for us tonight at Malaga. He'd taken me there once before. It was a romantic Spanish restaurant with great food AND a dance floor. I guessed he wanted a romantic evening.

"When John's done let's head back to Rangeman," Carlos whispered, nibbling at my ear after hanging up with Hal. "We have a few hours before our reservation."

Oh God. Afternoon sex. Well afternoon sex with Carlos. It had all other kinds of afternoon sex beat.

We went back downstairs to see how John was doing. Maybe we could hurry him out. He was staring at the pipes in the ceiling that lead up from the boiler when we caught up with him.

"You have a very odd situation here. There are returns on all your pipes. It looks like there aren't any radiators, but the hot water flowing through your pipes is what heats the place. Jimmy could be disassembling these fittings for weeks."

Great. Double great, now that I was the designated supervisor.

"Whatever it takes," Carlos said. "We'd just like to be done with the demolition by the spring. We want to have our wedding here."

"Congratulations."

"Thank you," I told him before adding, "It looks to me like there's a rose garden outside of the kitchen. Is there any way to make sure it doesn't get destroyed before you start work on the place?"

"Do you have a landscaper? I'd either move them or I'd burlap them so we know not to walk all over them."

"We don't have a landscaper. Is there anyone you'd recommend?"

"I think I have a card," he said, reaching into his wallet and producing a well-worn and dirt-stained business card. He handed it to me and said he'd have his estimate to Carlos by morning.

"Send it to Stephanie. Her email is splum at Rangeman dot com." He spoke slowly enunciating each word, so John would be sure to remember it without writing it down and FF would be less likely to delete it.

I knew why he was doing this; he wouldn't be here tomorrow and he wanted to make sure I got the estimate. Carlos told me a few weeks ago that he'd given me signing privileges on all his personal bank accounts. I was flattered that he trusted me; we weren't even married yet. But when I questioned him further about it, he'd told me that he'd added me to his accounts years ago. Needless to say I was shocked, although it looked like that would come in handy now. But God, I just wished he wasn't going away.

We followed John out of the estate and Carlos fobbed the gate closed once we were safely outside. I wanted to make sure Clyde didn't follow us back to Rangeman, so I got out my phone and texted him.

"Carlos is leaving in the morning for a few weeks. We'd like to be alone this afternoon. Ok?"

"I'll go visit Joe. Enjoy yourselves ;)"

I didn't teach him the wink; I guessed he figured that one out for himself. But now that I knew we were alone, I had other things on my mind. I ran my hand slowly up and down the inside of Carlos' thigh while he drove. I spent a little more time on the up and I knew the effect this would have on him. I was counting on it.

"Babe?"

"Mmmm?"

"We could pull over and I could fuck you here, but if you'd rather wait till we got home, I suggest removing that hand."

"Mmmm. I said, continuing my assault on his inner thigh.

Suddenly Carlos pulled the car over and parked. We were in a secluded area between Ewing and Trenton and I had a feeling I'd pushed him too far. Yippee.

He pulled me across the console and his mouth claimed mine. His tongue teased my lips and I parted them to allow him entry.

"Power your seat forward Babe. I'll meet you in the back."

I did as I was told. Even though this was Carlos' personal automobile, it still contained all the Rangeman accessories and somehow Carlos produced a blanket and a condom from his first aid kit. He laid the blanket down on the backseat so we wouldn't get leather burn.  
He threw me down on top of it and tugged my jeans and panties down in one quick move. He unzipped his cargos and I watched his beautiful cock pop out. Oh my God. I was about to take it into my now-watering mouth when suddenly the condom was on him and he was inside of me.

It was fast and furious like the first time.

He pumped me hard. I didn't think I'd be able to come without a little foreplay but I felt myself rising to the occasion and met his thrusts with equal determination. Suddenly I felt the dots behind my eyes and my body erupted in a huge orgasm. He pumped harder and deeper into me from a slightly different angle and I felt him hitting my g-spot. Oh my God. My body trembled and another much deeper orgasm escaped. He thrust into me a few more times and I felt him shudder into his own release.

Oh. My. God.

When we both finally had our breathing under control enough to speak, Carlos looked at me.

"I gave you fair warning Babe."

"You did, but since when have I ever listened to you?"

"Let's clean up and head back to Rangeman. I have a feeling that there's more where that came from and we're like sitting ducks on the side of the road here."

As we drove back to Trenton I felt much more relaxed although still not too happy about Carlos' imminent departure.

I took the remaining drive to tell Carlos about my idea of using some of Clyde's money for a fund to help abused women who had nowhere else to turn. He liked what I was proposing and he added to it.

"You know how Vinnie offered Lula a job when she'd made up her mind to quit whoring?"

"Yes?"

"What if we were able to find jobs for these abused women too."

"How are we going to do that? Vinnie only needs one file clerk who doesn't file."

"Rangeman is growing. I could use some part-time office help and I can ask our corporate accounts if they might need anyone. The person has to be willing to change their life around though. I won't go out on a limb for just anyone who finds work too much work and would rather go back to their old way of life. Whatever that was."

"I'll talk to Clyde about it tomorrow. Maybe he has some ideas too," I said as we fobbed our way into the Rangeman garage. I suddenly wanted to move the subject back to something a little more enjoyable. Something that preferably included a hot and sweaty Carlos.


	17. Chapter 17—Saying Goodbye

_Blinky, Pinky, Inky and Clyde_

This takes place after "It's a new day, it's a new dawn, it's a new year"

A/N Thank you so much for reading along and for all your wonderful reviews. They really do keep me going. :) Thank you :)

M rating (mostly for language—well maybe not this chapter )

**Thank you Margaret** for reading ahead as my Beta. :) I much appreciate :)

**And** it's her insistence that Joe is just a **man **'**ho** that spurred me on :)

Don't own the characters (except for Clyde), just playing :)

**Chapter 17—Saying Goodbye**

We parked the Cayenne in the spot usually reserved for the turbo. I had a feeling the detailing wasn't able to get the urine smell out and Carlos wasn't bringing it back to Rangeman. The way I saw it, any day now a new Porsche 911 Turbo S would grace one of his personal spots. Another 620-horsepower, all-wheel drive, 0-60 in 2.7 seconds monster.

Too bad he wouldn't be here to greet it personally.

I was in a little fog thinking about his car, or maybe it was the car sex, but I didn't realize that Carlos had opened my door and was waiting for me to unbuckle my seat belt so he could help me out.

He finally reached in and unlatched it for me, his fingers grazing my breast in the process. I hoped the cameras didn't catch that one. He practically lifted me out of the seat and leaned in to give me a kiss. God the mouth on that man, and I wasn't talking about language.

"Let's go upstairs Babe," he said when we broke apart.

"Does Tank know that you're leaving in the morning, or do we need to stop on five so you and he can talk?"

"Yes. And talking is never good when you can _show_ someone how you feel. Come on Babe, I want to get these clothes off of you."

I guessed I had my answer.

As we took the elevator up to seven Carlos leaned against the back wall. He pulled me to him so my back was to his front. I think I was being used as camouflage this time as I could feel something poking me in the ass.

Mmmm.

He fobbed us in and closed the door with his foot. His arms wrapped around me and pulled me close. He pushed me towards the wall and inserted his leg between mine. God I wanted him.

His mouth crashed down on mine letting me know he was still hungry for me. And my body responded in kind. I practically jumped into his lap.

"Babe take it easy. We have all night," he said as I tried to tug his cargos down.

"Mmmm. Carlos take me now."

"Babe take it slow. I promise you a night to remember, but you have to slow down, my dick is not going away."

"Yes it is and I want it now," I said again a little more forceful and ground my pelvis against his to get my message across.

He picked me up and carried me to his bedroom.

xxxxXXXXxxxx

I woke up to small kisses being placed along my hairline. "Babe," it's six o'clock. We have seven-thirty reservations and I know you'd like to shower and get ready before we go out."

"Mmmm Carlos. I'm sorry, I guess I fell asleep."

"You had good reason to fall asleep. I'm pretty sure I tired you out," he wolf-grinned, ever so sure of himself.

I headed to the shower. My job made easier because I didn't have any clothes on to take off. Surprisingly Carlos followed me in. Oh God. Car sex and shower sex in one day. Could my odds get any better?

"I thought you could use some help Babe," he said, turning on the water and checking it for optimal temperature.

When he got it just the way he liked it, he picked me up and carried me into the shower with him. He wet my hair under the spray and began massaging my Mr. Alexander shampoo into my scalp. I melted from his touch which was strong yet pleasurable. Where did _he_ learn the art of a good shampoo massage?

When he felt he got me clean he tilted my head back and rinsed me off, careful to not get any soap in my eyes.

"Conditioner?" he asked picking up another bottle and treating me to the same kneading sensations before gently rinsing most of it out.

"We need to get clean now Babe," he wolf-grinned, reaching for his signature Bulgari shower gel. He lathered both of us up using a soft sea sponge and started tracing slow circles around my breasts before moving his torture to my belly and then my inner thighs. When one of his hands moved up higher and the other cupped my ass, I was a goner. I tilted my head back to moan with pleasure and he reached between my legs and slid his soapy forearm back and forth over me. Oh God, just the right amount of pressure. I couldn't hold myself back and I rubbed myself against him.

"You like this Babe?"

I couldn't even talk I was in such heaven.

"Mmmm. Oh God," I said as my body erupted in pleasure.

I could see that turned him on and I wanted to reciprocate. I took a big dollop of my conditioner in my hand before I reached for his very erect penis. I sensually rubbed up and down while looking him in the eyes using my best 'Stephanie takes charge,' stance. I added a second hand to the mix and used a small twisting motion as I moved up and down. I could tell by the look on his face that he was really into it, so I moved one of my hands to his stepchildren to bring them into the fold.

He was practically moaning.

"Babe?"

"It's ok Carlos. Come for me," I whispered, paying attention solely to his penis again. His famous control was gone as he pulsed into an uncontrollable orgasm.

After that little pleasure interlude we needed to wash up again, which we did quickly and both got out of the shower to dry off. I didn't expect a dripping Carlos to offer the towel he pulled from the rack to me. He wrapped me in it sexily and kissed my lips before grabbing the other one for himself. I loved this man so much.

I dried off, moisturized and moved to his mirror to do my hair. When I got it looking decent, I went about doing my face. Tinted moisturizer, a quick stroke of liner to each eye, a little eyebrow pencil to fill in my over-zealous tweezing, a couple of coats of mascara, a few swipes of blush and some lipstick and I was as ready as I'd ever be.

"Babe you look beautiful," Carlos said, watching me do my thing. "Why don't you wear one of the dresses Ella picked up for you? I think you'd look really good in this one," he said, picking a blue Nicole Miller runched-front dress out of our now-shared closet.

It was one of the ones I wanted to return. Carlos spent too much money on me. But looking at it now and the way he held it out to me, I decided I was being selfish and denying him the pleasure of seeing me in a beautiful dress. I took it and put it up next to me.

"It's perfect with your eyes Babe. Wear it for me?"

"I don't think I have any shoes to go with it," I said noting that this style of dress would look best with a pump or peep-toe shoe. I had strappy sandals, boots and sneakers here.

"Babe what about these?" Carlos asked coming out of my closet with a three and a half inch heeled pair of black pumps.

I looked at them questioningly. They were not something I brought over.

"Ella?"

"I'm sure. She thinks of everything."

I put them on with the dress. It just worked.

Carlos had on black Armani slacks that fit him perfectly, a black silk shirt unbuttoned at the neck and a dark grey sports jacket. GQ Carlos. He looked hot and totally edible.

"Are you almost ready to go Babe?"

"I'd love to put earrings on, do you think my ear has healed enough?" I asked bringing up the tender topic of Joe's ripping out one of the earrings Carlos gave me for Christmas.

"I think so, that was almost three months ago. Before you put them on, I have something for you," he said going into his safe and producing a white satin jewelry box.

I opened it and inside were the most beautiful pair of sapphire and diamond drop earrings.

"They're gorgeous Carlos but…I, I can't accept them," I added, mentally calculating their worth.

"Why not Babe, they bring out the color of your eyes."

"You've already spent too much money on me."

"Here let me put them on," he said taking the box from me and undoing the catch that held them to the satin. He pushed my hair back and put on one of the earrings. He looked at me appreciatively and smiled. "Here take a look," he said leading me over to the mirror.

While I was looking at it, he put the other one in my now healed ear. I expected it to hurt, but it didn't.

"They're beautiful, just like you," he said looking at me again and kissing me.

"Thank you Carlos, they _are_ beautiful," I said. I guessed I was getting ready to try to give them back again, but he stopped me.

"Please Babe. I want you to have them. They're a gift from me to you. Please?"

I nodded my head and turned to kiss him. "Thank you," I said softly.

"We should get going if we want to keep our reservation," he said producing a black wool, BCBG trench-style coat from the closet and putting it on me.

"Carlos. You can't keep buying me things."

"Why not Babe? Is there anything wrong with me wanting my beautiful woman to look beautiful?

I accepted it because I didn't want to start a fight but I'd have to have a talk with Ella.

We took the elevator down and Carlos punched the button for the second floor. Rangeman reception was on the second floor. It was after-hours so I had no idea what he wanted from there.

"Ill be right back Babe," he said going into the dark reception area and coming back with a smile on his face.

We continued down to the garage and parked in one of his personal spots was a brand new shiny black 2013 Porsche 911 Turbo S. I knew it.

He fobbed the car open and helped me in before kissing me and closing my door. He let himself in the driver's side and backed out of his spot. He had such a smile on his face feeling the control of this car as he did a perfect reverse 180 to turn us around and fob us out of the garage.

Boys and their toys.

We were at the restaurant about ten minutes later and he turned over the car and keys to the valet. What a trusting man. I'd make sure I parked it myself. But I guessed if it had so much as a dent on it when we came out of the restaurant that valet would be heading to a third world country.

We were expected and ushered to a private table in the back. The hostess seated us, put our napkins in our laps and handed us our menus. She took our coats and disappeared. A few minutes later the sommelier came over with a very expensive bottle of red. He opened it, poured some in a glass and offered it to Carlos to taste. Carlos swirled it around and took a sip. He nodded and the waiter poured mine before filling Carlos'. Yeah, I loved that ritual. It made me feel elegant.

"Do you see anything you like Babe?" Carlos asked after we toasted and I had picked up the menu to read it.

"The roasted peppers in olive oil sounds like a nice appetizer," I said not even venturing to try to pronounce the Spanish name for it. "Or the asparagus in a vinaigrette sauce?"

"Why don't we order one of each and split them?"

"Ok. And for a main, I was thinking I'd get the breaded veal cutlets in lemon and wine sauce. What were you going to get?" I asked knowing for certain it was a chicken something.

"Pechugas de pollo en salsa de champinon. Breast of chicken in mushroom sauce. My Abuela Maria in Miami used to make it for me all the time."

"That does sound good. I think the last time we were here we split the paella. It was really good, but I'd like to try something different."

"Why don't we get a side dish of arroz con abas negras y plantanos?"

"What's that?"

"Rice with black beans and plantains. I think you'll like it."

"Ok, it sounds like something I'd like to try anyway."

When the waiter came back we ordered everything. I knew it would be too much food, but then I also knew I wouldn't have to bother Ella about dinner tomorrow night. Maybe I'd just stay at my apartment for the next few weeks, so I didn't have to deal with any of that.

"Babe," Carlos said, reading minds again, "I'd like you to stay at Rangeman while I'm gone. I'd feel better knowing you were safe."

"I feel like a burden. Ella is _your_ housekeeper, she shouldn't have to cook meals for me when you're not there."

"Ella enjoys cooking for you…probably more than she enjoys cooking for me. I have too many restrictions. You eat everything. And Ella is _our _housekeeper."

I wasn't going to argue, I didn't want Carlos to leave in a sour mood, so I let it go. I'd stay at Rangeman.

Carlos was very attentive. He held my hand and told me he loved me. He said he'd miss me and he'd do what he always did on his missions: he'd think about me to keep himself from going crazy.

Our food arrived and everything was fabulous. I knew the portions were large but I didn't realize I'd be going home with enough food for a few days. Maybe this would be a good time for Ella to take a vacation?

After we ate Carlos took my hand and asked me if I wanted to dance. God I loved being held tight by him so I nodded and smiled and Carlos led me to the small dance floor by the bar. We weren't the only couple dancing, so I didn't feel self-conscious as he nibbled my neck and told me all the things he was going to do to me later. God, I thought we just did them all.

Before I realized it the night was over and we were back in the turbo heading to Rangeman. All of a sudden it hit me, he was leaving in the morning and I was going to miss him so much.

xxxXXXxxx

It was still dark when I felt kisses on my neck and shoulders.

"I have to leave Babe. I'll see you in a few weeks."

"God Carlos, what time is it?"

"It's 5 am Babe. My flight leaves at 6:30. I have a car downstairs."

I got up to kiss him goodbye and as much as I tried to keep myself under control, the tears streamed uncontrollable from my eyes.

"Don't get shot, ok?"

Don't go crazy Babe, I'll see you soon."

And he was gone.


	18. Chapter 18—Got your Back

_Blinky, Pinky, Inky and Clyde_

This takes place after "It's a new day, it's a new dawn, it's a new year"

A/N Thank you so much for reading along and for all your wonderful reviews. They really do keep me going. :) Thank you :)

M rating (mostly for language)

**Thank you Margaret** for reading ahead as my Beta. :) I much appreciate :)

I thought Steph and Clyde needed a chance to talk about some things now that Ranger was going to be gone for a few weeks. I also wanted to introduce Jimmy Bucci. This chapter is more background and fill-in than anything else, but I felt it necessary to move the story forward. Please let me know your thoughts.

Don't own the characters (except for Clyde), just playing :)

**Chapter 18—Got your Back**

I fell back to sleep for a few more hours. And I only woke up at all because my phone was buzzing relentlessly. I went over to my bag to see who had the gall to call me at…oh…it _was_ ten thirty. Oops.

I checked my emails and I got the estimate from John Bucci. I left that for now. My other emails were all junk or meeting notices from Rangeman that I'd already missed. I was pretty sure Tank wasn't expecting me to show up for an 8am meeting anyway, but I'd go down and visit with him later.

I checked my phone messages next as they were the ones that had been buzzing for the last half an hour. One from my mom. One from Connie, she had two new skips for me. Another from Connie asking if I was ok. And a third from Connie saying that Lester was in the office and she was going to give _him_ the files to bring to me.

Ok. I was good with that.

I was already up so I decided to just get on with my day. I showered, did my hair, applied a little mascara and padded out to make myself some coffee and see what I could dig up for breakfast. I really hated bothering Ella for just me.

I had my head inside the refrigerator checking out my options when the intercom buzzed.

"Steph? It's Ella. Is everything ok?"

"I'm fine, I just got a late start. I don't know if you know but Carlos is away for a few weeks."

"Tank told me this morning. I was calling to see if you wanted me to bring up some breakfast for you. I can make pancakes," she added excitedly.

Maybe Carlos was right and she did prefer cooking for me. And pancakes sounded like such a good idea that I forgot all about bothering her.

"Oh God that sounds so good Ella. Are you sure it's not too much trouble?"

"No trouble at all. I'll be up in about ten minutes."

I had wanted to do a google search on the cost of a full house demolition in the Trenton area to see if Bucci's prices were on par, so I brought my laptop into the kitchen to start comparing while I made coffee and waited for Ella to buzz the door.

I picked up my phone, realizing I never checked my text messages and there was one from Clyde.

It was a picture of Joe with a black eye. I could see that Clyde had a fun evening last night too.

"What happened?" I texted back.

"He chased Bob into a tree."

"Bob or you?"

"Can I help it if Bob doesn't listen to him?"

Oh my God. "Is Bob ok?"

"Of course. He went around the tree. Joe went into it."

I almost felt bad for Joe. Well almost. It was _his_ temper that got him into trouble in the first place.

"I got the estimate from John. I was going to do a google search to see if it was a fair price. Want to help?"

"What's a google search?" he asked.

I forgot for a minute that he was living 67 years in the past, but he did know about computers so I tried that route.

"Google is the name of a computer search engine that can get information on just about any topic. I don't want to just randomly accept Bucci's bid until I know it's in the ballpark, even if Carlos trusts him."

"Sound like fun. I'll be over shortly."

I had just powered up my laptop when the doorbell rang and I got a text from Clyde at the same time.

"I'm here!"

"Oh good and so is my breakfast," I said out loud, opening the door to let Ella in.

"Hi Ella, thank you so much."

She wheeled her cart in and started putting things on the breakfast bar.

"Who were you just talking to? Were you on the phone? I'm sorry."

"Um no. Clyde this is Ella Guzman. Ella this is Clyde Darby. Clyde is a ghost."

I was hoping she wouldn't faint if Clyde did one of his talking things so I intercepted as quickly as I could.

"Please don't faint. He can speak."

"Hi Ella. Nice to meet you," he said.

Ella looked like she was going to pass out. I sat her down at the breakfast bar and I got a washcloth from the bathroom. I ran it under cold water and gave it to her.

"I'm sorry Ella. I tried to give you some warning. Carlos and I met Clyde at our house in Ewing. He and the Sweeneys have been haunting the place for the last 67 years. Lester's mother knew of a shaman who convinced the Sweeneys to move on. But Clyde here is stubborn and he took a liking to us."

"Clyde, I know you can't appreciate Ella's cooking, but it's soooo good."

"Are you a white spirit?" Ella finally asked.

"I'm not quite sure I understand what you mean Ella? We work in an ethnically diverse environment so I wouldn't think you'd care about his skin color?"

"There are black spirits and white spirits. Black spirits have evil intent, while white ones have good intent."

"Oh he's definitely white," I said. "And he can communicate with you better through your text messages. Do you have your phone on you?"

Ella took her phone out of her apron pocket and put it on the countertop.

"Clyde?" I asked hoping he'd catch my drift and send a text to Ella.

I was starting to worry that Ella might be one of the people that he chose to ignore when a text from the 454-545 number appeared on her phone.

"I'm sorry if I frightened you. That was not my intent. I've heard Ranger, Lester and Hector speak very highly of you so I'm glad we had the opportunity to meet. I'd like to spend some time helping Stephanie out while Ranger is away. I think you'll be able to sense when I'm around—Steph can."

"Do I have to text him back or can he hear me?" Ella asked, I think intrigued by Clyde's abilities.

"If he's in the same room, you can just speak to him. He uses less energy to text, so that's _his_ preferred method of talking. Well unless he wants to scare you. You know about Carlos' new turbo don't you?"

Ella did not. So I filled her and Clyde in on the new car that arrived last night and I also told her about my FTA who had an 'accident' in Carlos' old car. Well, courtesy of Clyde.

Ella was laughing so hard I thought she was going to fall off the barstool. When she finally got herself under control she stood up.

"Well I'm glad I got to meet you Clyde. I have to go back downstairs and put lunch together for the boys. They start getting hungry around eleven and are downright ornery if there is nothing in the breakroom by eleven thirty. Stop by anytime. I'm on the sixth floor."

I let Ella out and took the cover off of the serving dish she brought up. Blueberry pancakes, my favorite. She also gave me a small pyrex bowl filled with what looked like real maple syrup. I stuck my finger into it to test its authenticity.

"Oh God," I moaned, bringing some of the gooey liquid to my lips. It was the real deal.

"Are you ok?" Clyde spoke, not bothering to conserve his energy.

"I'm sorry, it just tasted so good. I'm fine."

I poured the maple syrup onto my pancakes, which already had butter between the layers and I cut myself a wedge.

"Mmmm, God," I moaned again.

"You can really distract a guy, you know?" came the text to my phone.

"I'm just enjoying my food. Behave yourself and get your head out of the gutter."

"Finish up quickly, I want you to show me how to google," showed up on my screen. Nothing like an impatient ghost.

"Give me a few more minutes, I don't get this everyday."

I finished my last bite and was lapping up the extra syrup on my plate with my finger and then sucking all the goodness off of it when I got another text.

"Must you?"

"Clyde, what is wrong with you today?"

"I'm sorry, but you're making me a little…crazy."

"Oh for God's sake," I said picking up the plate and bringing it over to the sink to rinse it off. I ran it under the water then put it into the dishwasher before turning back around to Clyde.

"Shall we google?"

I took my laptop into the living room and I sat down on the couch. I didn't know exactly where Clyde was but I sensed him the room with me. I opened up my browser window and explained step-by-step what I was doing. I typed 'ballpark cost of a house demolition Trenton, NJ' into the search criteria and let it do its thing.

I came up with a site that said the cost of a demolition is usually between $4.00 and $15.00 per square foot before permits. It said if there were asbestos in the house to add an additional $2-$3 per square foot to the cost of the work. I knew there was, so I added in the higher number and went to my calculator. $63,000.

Then I googled 'demolition permits, Trenton NJ.' Not only did we have to get a demolition permit, we also needed permits to disconnect the gas, the electrical and the telephone. It said permits took on-average twenty days to obtain. Damn. I was hoping to start right away.

I went back to the Bucci estimate. He had $68,000 for everything, including removal of all debris. The small type on his estimate said 'costs include BCPR rush review.' I didn't know what the BCPR was so I googled that too. The Bureau of Construction Project Review. They issued all permits and releases of plans. Got it.

Obviously we were getting a good deal from Bucci since time equals money _and_ his estimate included getting rid of all the debris.

"Clyde what do you think?"

"I think it's a fair price. Does it say when he can start?"

"No but Carlos told him we wanted to have our wedding on the property in the spring, so I assume that's why he built in the 'rush reviews.'"

"Then I'd call him up and tell him you've approved the estimate and send him a deposit. Isn't that how it works?"'

"I think so." I picked up my phone and dialed.

"Yello," a male voice said after two rings.

"John? This is Stephanie Plum."

"Steph. Did you get my estimate?"

"Yes, that's why I'm calling. It looks good to me and I was wondering when you can start?"

"Well if you read the fine print it says I'd need the contract signed and one-third down to begin work."

"I can have that for you this afternoon. I see we have to file for some permits, so I was just wondering about a start date."

"I'm finishing up the removal of a corroded oil tank about four blocks from you. I can probably move a few men from there to your house and we can start on Monday. Will that work?"

That was sooner than I expected. Monday was only four days away.

"Yes. That would be fabulous. Do you need me to sign this and drop it off at your office right now?" I said as I had him on the phone and I didn't want him going anywhere.

"I was just leaving but Jimmy will be here after two. Stop by then and you two can catch up."

"OK. I'll be by later."

"Shit," I said to Clyde after I hung up. "I was hoping to stay far away from his brother and now he wants me to drop off a check and the signed contract with him."

"I get the feeling you don't like him?"

"He just creeps me out. He always has. He's the kind of guy that looks at you like he's mentally undressing you. I don't know."

"Ask someone from Rangeman to tag along. I'm sure they would."

"Yeah. I have to talk to Tank anyway. Want to come down to five with me?"

"I'd love to see the place."

"You mean you haven't checked out the control room yet?"

"No. I only go where I'm invited."

I took the elevator down. I wasn't sure how Clyde got there but I could tell he was with me when I knocked on Tank's door.

"Bomber come in."

"I'm sorry I missed the meeting this morning. I don't want you to think I'm taking advantage…"

"Never happen. I only wanted to include you so you'd know we value your opinion. The meeting was to let staff know that Ranger was out of town for a few weeks and to see me for anything that might come up."

"Thank you. I kind of slept in..."

"You don't have to apologize. Just know that all of us are here for you. Ok?"

"Well that's one of the things I wanted to talk to you about. Oh, Clyde is here. I'm sorry I guess I need to let you know," I added feeling the air change and give me a subtle elbow in the side.

"Stop apologizing. I can sense him. Yo bro."

"Yo means hi Clyde." "He's still living in 1946, we have to explain a lot of things to him," I turned and said to Tank although I really didn't want to make Clyde feel uncomfortable.

"Yeah but I'm a quick read," got texted back to my phone, picking up on something he heard somewhere—probably Lester.

"Tank, you know about the demolition at our house. Well we got an estimate and I need to sign it and take it over to Bucci's office..."

"Do you want our lawyer to look at it?" Tank broke in.

"No that's not necessary, I already did a competitive and his price is good. I just don't want to go to their offices alone. His brother James creeps me out."

"Cal and Ram are coming off rotation. Cal can scare the balls off anyone. Take them with you."

"Thanks. And one other thing. Carlos asked me to stay on seven until he gets back. I just want everyone to know I'm here and I'm not some sort of…interloper."

"Bomber. We all know you're here. And it looks to me that you'll be here for a long time. I understand you have wedding plans?

"Tank? I hope you didn't hear that from the Burg. My mother would kill me if everyone knew before her."

"No I heard it from Ranger."

"Did he ask you to be his best man?"

"He did and I'm honored."

I was so happy for that…and that the guys accepted me. Jeez. It so could have gone the other way.

Tank picked up his phone and called Cal. The guys were just pulling into the garage and would pick me up down there. Well me and Clyde.

I took the elevator down to the garage and Cal and Ram were idled and waiting for me. I jumped in the back and felt Clyde's presence again. Good.

"Hi Guys, thanks for coming with me. I really didn't want to visit Jimmy Bucci by myself. Do you know where their offices are? Oh and just so you know Clyde's with us."

At least no one passed out, so I continued with my introduction.

"Clyde, the guy with the flaming skull tattooed on his forehead is Cal and Ram is driving. Cal, Ram, this is Clyde."

"Pleasure," said Cal extending his hand to the air in the back seat, obviously amused.

"Shit," he said suddenly pulling his hand back. "He took it."

I couldn't stop laughing. Served Cal right. Do _not_ mess with the dead.

"Hey Clyde," Ram said as he fobbed us out of the garage. "I'm sorry but I'm not going to make the same mistake Cal did and extend my hand. I might get a little squeamish if it's icy."

"It wasn't cold," Cal said.

My phone was buzzing; I had a text. I pulled it out of my bag. It was Hector.

"Is Clyde with you?"

"Yes."

"I think the Grizzolis figured out that someone screwed with their security system. All communication back to Rangeman has stopped. They are now only talking in the boardroom, which is sewn up tight. Can you ask him if he'd like to pay another visit to their compound? I can take him there after my shift ends at four today. If we take my car we won't get stopped as long as we don't get too close."

I relayed the information to Clyde.

He replied to my phone, "I know where it is now. Hector doesn't need to take me. I can go over there after we stop off at Bucci's office."

"You don't mind?" I said not wanting to take advantage of Clyde's generosity.

"Not at all. I'm enjoying this. I was going to ask Ranger if he'd put me on payroll."

"You're kidding right?"

"No. What does Hector need me to do? Turn the cameras back on?"

I forwarded his message to Hector then added out loud and in a text, "Why don't you two talk directly?"

Hector replied to my phone, "Ok, I'm texting the both of you now. No, Clyde can you just sit in the boardroom and listen. Something is going on. Once we know what it is, the FBI will go in and take them down."

"Are we working with the FBI on this?" I texted back, wondering why _we_ weren't doing the takedown.

"Yes and they have the right to apprehend papers. We're just heading up the security end."

"Too bad, I think Clyde would like to see a little action," I added thinking of his comment about asking Carlos for a job.

We had reached Buccis office which was located in a quonset hut on the outskirts of Trenton, in a lot where they parked their heavy machinery.

"What were you guys talking about?" Ram asked shutting the engine and opening his door.

"I'll tell you later," I said, not sure if the Buccis were related to the Grizollis and not wanting to take any chances.

The three of us, and Clyde, got out of the car and walked over to the prefab. I knocked on the door and pushed it open. Jimmy was sitting at one of the desks amid a pile of paperwork. When he saw me, he got up and extended his hand. "Stephanie, I haven't seen you in a dog's age. How are you?"

So far, so good. "I'm good James. These are my friends Cal and Ram," I said introducing my human partners, "they work with Carlos, my fiancé."

"Yeah, John told me you're getting married again. Congratulations. We'll do everything possible to getcha place dismantled before the wedding. Are we keepin' the foundation of the house or d'ya wanna fill that in?"

I actually wasn't sure. Carlos and I had never discussed it, so I didn't know quite what to say.

"What do people usually do?" I asked instead, looking over at Ram to see if he offered any advice.

"If ya wanna save money on new construction, then keep the existing foundation. But if money is not an object and ya plan to change the footprint of the place, fill it in."

I still wasn't sure if I was making the right decision and I wished I could talk openly with Clyde here, but then I remembered the rot in the basement that started this whole demolition discussion.

"The inspector said our basement had rot, mold and insect infestation and I think that was one of the reasons we failed inspection. Let's knock it down and fill it in."

"Ya probably made a good decision based on what ya just tole me. Do you have the signed contract?"

"I'm sorry. Yes and here's a check for a third of the estimate," I said digging into my bag and producing the paperwork and check I had written out and put in there earlier.

Jimmy looked at the signed contact and the check.

"Trusting soul," he said, and I looked at him.

"He has you on his checking account. Ya don't exactly have a reputation for keeping your cars in one piece ya know."

Fuck you. I knew there was another reason I didn't like you, but I bit my tongue to keep myself from saying anything. "Usually not my fault. Is there anything else you need from me?"

"No. I'll see ya Monday then. Have a good weekend."

"You too," I smiled weakly, not really wanting to wish him a good anything.

I turned around and led the procession back to the car. Once we were safely inside and Ram had started the engine I felt myself relax a little and blew out a sigh. I didn't realize I had been so tense.

"You ok Steph?" Cal asked turning around to look at me.

"I am now. Sorry. Thanks for coming with me. I think he was on good behavior because you guys were there."

"He didn't seem all that bad. Maybe a little crude," Ram added.

"Crude, that's the perfect word for him. John said removing the pipes could take a few weeks, so I guess I'm going to have to see his crudeness every day."

"Talk to Tank, he can put men on rotation so you'll always have a couple of us at the house with you. You shouldn't have to deal with him by yourself if he makes you feel uncomfortable," Cal said.

"I can't ask him to do that."

"Of course you can. None of us would want anything to happen to you. And if _you_ don't talk to him, we will."


	19. Chapter 19—Clyde can see Things

_Blinky, Pinky, Inky and Clyde_

This takes place after "It's a new day, it's a new dawn, it's a new year"

A/N Thank you so much for reading along and for all your wonderful reviews. They really do keep me going. :) Thank you :)

M rating (mostly for language)

**Thank you Margaret** for reading ahead as my Beta. :) I much appreciate :)

Don't own the characters (except for Clyde), just playing :)

**Chapter 19—Clyde can see things**

Ram drove us back to Rangeman and as I was getting out of the SUV Lester came over to our Explorer.

"Beautiful, I've been looking for you since early this morning. Connie gave me your right to apprehend for a couple of new skips. After you do your preliminaries, I can help you bring them in."

"Hey Les, thanks for picking them up for me. But unless they are total bad asses I don't think I'll need any help."

"No prob, but Tank wants me to work with you on the takedowns of these bad boys. If I help you, it should be a piece of cake," he said, puffing himself up to broaden his already broad chest.

"Get over it Lester. You're not that great," I said to him. Boy did he have an ego. And I was going to have to have a little talk with Tank. I didn't need help with the low level skips I usually got from Connie and... 'Holy shit,' I said to myself, taking a look at the RTA papers, 'these were _not_ low level skips.'

"Lester," I called him back, "did you take a look at these guys?"

"I did. I questioned Connie about them and asked why they weren't going to Rangeman. She said Vinnie thought you could handle them."

"Perez is a serial rapist and Johnson is charged with three counts of murder? These are not my usual skips."

"Vinnie pays you a lot less than he pays Rangeman. I think he's going through one of his cheap phases. Probably his wife wants a new kitchen or something. You do the investigating and I'll help with the takedowns."

Now I felt like I wanted to thank Tank and have that _talk_ with my cheapskate cousin.

"You have a deal."

I walked to the elevator and took it up to five. I stopped in the break room to grab a sandwich before I went to my cubicle to start searches on these felons.

I was sitting at my desk musing over Vinnie's sudden burst of insanity and eating my turkey on whole grain when I saw my phone light up with a text. No buzz; must be Clyde.

"Need some help?"

"I could always use some help," I said, "I just don't know where to begin with these guys. My cousin Vinnie seems to have me in over my head."

"Should we go visit Vinnie?"

"I love your evil mind, but after Jimmy this morning, I don't have it for another slime bag today. Maybe tomorrow."

"Well what do you feel like doing?"

"Honestly?"

"Yeah."

"I feel like shopping for shoes and getting a manicure at the mall."

"Ok, let's go. I've never been to a mall."

One of the good things about skip tracing was that I didn't need to be glued to my desk to do it. I could do research in the field; and sometimes the best way to approach research was with an open mind. And what better way to have an open mind than to do a little mindless shopping.

I powered down my computer, grabbed my bag and spoke to Clyde, "Ok let's go."

I had the keys to the Cayenne with me, so I went down to the garage and fobbed myself in. My phone started buzzing before I could even get my key in the ignition. It was Lester.

"Where are you going?"

"I'm taking Clyde to the mall. He's never been."

"I was going to ask you if you wanted company, but I think the saying is 'two's company, three's a crowd,' and I don't want to crowd you."

"Les you can come with us if you want. At least if you're with us, people won't think I'm talking to myself. And I owe you an apology for earlier."

"A trip to the mall is an apology?"

"For me it is."

"I'll be right down, but I get to ride shotgun, ok?"

"I'm pretty sure that'll be ok with Clyde. I still haven't figured out where he sits. Or even _if_ he sits."

"I sit," came a text to my phone. "But I'll take the back."

Lester took the stairs down and appeared by the exit door closer to the entrance. I put the car into reverse and backed around to pick him up.

He opened the door and got in. "Sorry Clyde, I hope I didn't take your seat?"

"It's ok," appeared on Les' and my phone at the same time. Clyde seemed to have this communicating thing down.

I fobbed us out of the garage and drove over to Quakerbridge. I managed to get a good spot right by Lord & Taylor and explained to Clyde about their large shoe department while we climbed out and I fobbed the car locked. I'd been to the mall with Lester before and luckily he wasn't one of those men who was shy about going into women's stores. I actually think he liked it. He took me by the arm and ushered me into the mall. Well, me _and_ Clyde.

I poked around the sale racks at Lord & Taylor for a while, not really seeing anything that I even wanted to try on. I was getting ready to move on when I got a text from Clyde, "What about these?"

I didn't know where he was, or what he was looking at, I just sensed he was nearby. I looked up and around and suddenly a shoe fell from the rack to my left. I went over to it and picked it up. It was a really nice shoe and it was in my size. How could I have missed it earlier? I started scanning the shelves for its partner. I thought I noted where it fell from as it was falling, but I couldn't seem to find its mate.

"Here," texted to my phone and another shoe fell. I was getting into this. I had Lester sitting me down, ready to put shoes on my feet and Clyde finding them for me. What more could a girl want when her fiancé was away chasing after bad guys?

I had an answer for that. Her fiancé. But these two were a pretty close second.

I tried the shoes on and got a wolf-whistle from Lester when I pulled my jeans up to see how they looked when I walked.

I turned around to glare at him; but a text diverted my attention before I had the chance.

"Not his fault. He's just a man and you have nice legs."

"Oh jeez. The two of you! I guess that means you both like them and I should get them?" Last time I'd go shopping with a couple of pervs.

I walked around a bit to make sure they weren't going to give me blisters. When I felt like they were keepers, I changed back to my Uggs, gathered them up and walked to the cashier's desk. I paid for them using my credit card then held my breath while she rang them up. I hoped I wasn't over my limit.

She came back with the receipt for me to sign and I let out the air I was holding in my lungs. Thank God.

After my successful shoe purchase we walked out of Lord & Taylor and into the mall and Lester insisted on carrying my bag for me. Even better. We were walking around aimlessly when I got a text from Clyde.

"Stop here for a minute."

I wasn't sure why. It wasn't Victoria's Secret? It was Motherhood Maternity.

"Why do you want to stop here?" I asked, a little confused by his request.

"Just want to see something."

We stood there for a few seconds. A woman went in. Another came out. I wondered what he was looking for?

"Ok, we can go now."

"What was that all about?" I asked.

"Nothing."

"Are you into pregnant women?" I ventured.

No answer. Of course he would take this opportunity to shut down. Kind of like the Merry Men blank face. Maybe he saw someone he thought he knew? No, that was impossible. I let it go and we continued walking around. As we passed Victoria's Secret I couldn't help myself.

"Guys, I want to go in here for a minute. You can wait outside if you want."

"Hell no," Lester said. "I've been waiting for this all afternoon."

Still nothing from Clyde, but I could tell he was with us.

I saw a really cute ruffled romper that I thought Carlos would absolutely enjoy taking off me. Lester was practically licking his lips looking at it, so I guessed it passed the male test. Then I found the sexiest navy blue and white lace demi bra. It even had a matching thong.

I had the romper and bra in my hand as I made my way to the try on rooms. I knew Lester wouldn't follow me and I was pretty sure Clyde wouldn't either, but I decided to let them both know I didn't want any company.

"Ill be right out, you can wait here."

They were both keepers and before I hit the checkout counter I returned to the rack where the navy bra was. I picked out a pair of matching thong panties in my size and added it to my collection. I was a little afraid to put another thing on my credit card, so I paid for my purchases with a check.

I felt happy and even though I didn't get my manicure I thought it was time to leave before the guys got impatient.

Lester had his hand out for the keys once we got outside. He could drive us back; I got shoes and lingerie. What more could a girl want?

Once we were back at Rangeman it was after five. Not that we normally have any set hours, but I just didn't feel like starting a search now, so after retrieving my keys from Lester and saying goodnight I took the elevator to seven.

I knew Clyde was still with me, but he hadn't said anything since the maternity store. I guessed I was going to have to get it out of him.

I fobbed myself in and took my boots off. I dropped my packages on the breakfast bar, grabbed my phone from my bag and went into the living room to sit down.

"Ok Clyde, what's going on?"

"I noticed something today," he texted.

"And?"

"I don't want you to be angry with me."

"I'm not going to be angry. Tell me."

"Ok. I can sense a life force around people. Everyone who's alive has a glow around them. Kind of like a halo."

"Ok. Go on."

"Well today I noticed a second glow around your abdomen that's why I wanted to stop at the maternity store."

"I don't get it?"

"I noticed the same glow coming from the women walking in and out of the store."

"And?"

"And I'm pretty sure you're pregnant."

"That's not possible. We used double…oh shit."

"Oh shit what Steph?"

"I knew Carlos wanted to use condoms for, well you know…the Joe thing. So I've been a little lax taking my pills. But we've _always_ used condoms."

"Condoms can fail. I'm sure you know that."

"Yeah, but these were _Carlos'_ condoms. I figured they'd be _extra_ protective."

"Well let's play detective here—did you ever not use them?"

I thought about it. No. We always used the ones he had. The one night at my apartment he brought some with him or he took them from his bedside drawer. I was about so say no when I thought about the car sex a few days ago. Shit. Carlos took _that _condom out of a first aid kit. It could have been there for years.

"I think I know what happened. Oh God, my mother is going to kill me. Her second _unmarried_ daughter to get pregnant."

"Steph, stay with me. What are you remembering?"

"I'm so embarrassed."

"Get over it. I'm a friend. We're trying to figure something out."

"We had sex in the Cayenne right before he left. He grabbed a condom from a first aid kit. It wasn't his usual brand, but it looked intact."

"Were there others? Is there something we can bring to Bobby to look at?"

"Clyde! I don't want to share my sex life with everyone at Rangeman."

"I don't want to bring up the obvious, but you spend most of your nights with Ranger—they can figure out what you do."

"Oh God. Are you sure I'm pregnant?"

"I'm not a doctor, but from my aura test with proven pregnant women, then yes. Have Bobby do a blood test on you or whatever it is you do now. You're going to keep this baby, I hope?"

"Clyde I'm scared.

"Stephanie? Don't do anything you'll be sorry for."

"What if Carlos freaks out and calls everything off?"

"He won't. He loves you."

"Yeah, but I was the one who fucked up."

"I hate to point out the obvious—but it takes two to tango."

Oh God.


	20. Chapter 20—Bad Timing

_Blinky, Pinky, Inky and Clyde_

This takes place after "It's a new day, it's a new dawn, it's a new year"

A/N Thank you so much for reading along and for all your wonderful reviews. They really do keep me going. :) Thank you :)

M rating (mostly for language)

**Thank you Margaret** for reading ahead as my Beta. :) I much appreciate :)

Don't own the characters (except for Clyde), just playing :)

**Chapter 20—Bad Timing**

Clyde stayed and talked with me into the evening. I called Ella around six and told her I was upstairs and she said she'd bring dinner by in about fifteen minutes.

We had moved the subject away from my most probable pregnancy to Clyde's haunting of Joe long before Ella knocked on the door. I was glad we were off that subject; I didn't want her to know it was something we even suspected.

"Good evening Steph. I made stuffed pork chops tonight. I hope you like them. They're not something Ranger would usually eat, but I was making them for Louis and myself and thought you'd enjoy them too."

"Thank you. They sound fabulous."

"Clyde's here, isn't he? I'm pretty sure I sense him."

She took out her phone to look on her display. "Hi Ella. Your pork chops sound wonderful, I wish I could taste them."

"Thank you. I'm glad you're staying with Stephanie while Ranger's away. I'll worry less."

"You worry about me?" I asked, not thinking I was very important to her or any Rangeman but Carlos, for that matter.

"I've probably worried about you more than you'll ever know. My biggest worry was that you and Ranger wouldn't realize how much you cared for each other. Now I'm glad I don't have to worry about that one anymore."

"Thanks Ella that's very sweet."

"Well I'll let you two enjoy dinner. I'll be up in an hour or so for the cart."

"Thanks," I added again and walked her to the door. "Um, did Carlos ask you about catering our wedding?"

"He did and I told him I'd love to. I know it's a lot of work, but I can get help and we can use the kitchen on four. Do you have a date yet?"

"Not really. I guess early May. That should be enough time for the demolition to be completed. Maybe end of April," I added taking into consideration what Clyde told me earlier. "I'm sure well make a decision when Carlos gets back."

"Just give me a few weeks notice to get help on board and to order the food. It'll be fun to make a wedding cake. I've never had the opportunity before."

I guessed I shivered.

"Are you ok?"

"Just a little nervous about getting married. I haven't told my family we've actually spoken about a timeframe. My mother's going to want to book the hall at the Knights of Columbus, and that kind of a wedding is the furthest thing from my mind. I was seeing flowers and grass and blooming trees. A real spring _outside_ thing."

"What if it's cold and drizzly. You can never predict spring weather."

"I thought we could rent a couple of those large tents with heat lamps, and a portable dance floor."

"That could be beautiful, but I'll pray for good weather for you."

"Thanks again Ella," I said pulling her in for a hug and an air kiss.

I went back to the living room where I'd left Clyde. I half expected him to be gone for his nightly haunting of Joe, but I could still feel him in the room.

"Carlos spoke with Ella about catering our wedding and she wants to do it," I chatted excitedly. "I wish I could make you my 'man of honor,' I don't even feel as close to Mary Lou as I do to you. And we've only known each other for a few weeks."

"I'm honored. But I'm sure that would go over well. Your guests would be passing out one by one as I walked down the aisle. All they'd be able to see was a moving bouquet. I really think you should ask Mary Lou."

"You'll come though, won't you? Please?"

"Of course I will. You think I'll be able to get a dance with the bride?"

"And you think walking flowers will look funny? But you know what? I don't care, of course we'll dance."

"I'll have to learn how to manifest that much energy at once. I wish I had someone to ask. There just aren't a lot of us highly evolved dead people walking around."

"Wait a minute. Before we knew…well, that you were you, Carlos was emailing a parapsychologist in London. I think his name was Jeffrey Fishbourne. Should we google him and get a number? We can call him tomorrow, it's after midnight there now."

"_I'll_ google. Watch me."

My laptop was open and in the search field I saw the name 'Jeffrey Fishbourne, Parapsychologist, London England' typing out letter by letter. I guessed he pressed the enter key or thought it pressed because within seconds a google search appeared on my screen. Clyde must have been reading the results because I saw the third listing highlight purple and my screen begin to display the information from that entry.

"Holy shit, you really did it," I said in disbelief. Oh my God, a ghost that googles.

"I had a good teacher. Ok, here he is. Wow, he has a lot of credentials. Let's call him around ten tomorrow, it'll be four in London."

"Are you off to haunt Joe?"

"No I was planning on taking a night off and staying with you. If that's ok that is?"

"Joe might think his ghost went away?"

"I'll be back tomorrow. I got to keep him on his toes. He thinks I'm Uncle Sallie :)."

"Really?"

"Yeah he was muttering to Bob that he thinks his Uncle Sallie was angry because he did some work around the house, so I've been picking things that look new and using them against him. The new kitchen cabinets and drawers are always open. I've overflowed the water in the new bathroom sink twice already and I have plans for the basement."

"Oh my God, you are evil."

"No I'm not. He hurt _you_; I'm just getting a little revenge."

"So if you're staying over, what do you want to do tonight? Watch a movie."

"What movie?"

"We can rent anything you want. Carlos has Apple TV."

"Show me what's available."

"Ok," I said and opened iTunes on the laptop to show him the thousands of movies we could rent.

"How about the Godfather?" he asked after somehow taking control of the scrolling and landing on some older movies."

"Have you ever seen it?"

"According to you I died in 1946. This didn't come out until 1972. It sounds good and it got great reviews."

"Ok the Godfather it is," I said turning on the Apple TV remote and entering in Carlos' user name and password. While it was downloading I got up to microwave some popcorn for us. I guessed just for me, really. I put the popped kernels in a bowl and brought them into the living room. The movie had just finished downloading and was ready to start. I pressed play and gave Clyde his first movie experience in sixty-seven years.

I kept my phone with me in case he wanted to comment from time to time.

When I didn't hear anything after the horse's head scene I thought maybe he fell asleep or whatever it was ghosts did to rejuvenate themselves.

"Clyde? What did you think?"

"Shhh. I'm really into this. We can talk when it's over."

I think I created a monster.

xxxxXXXXxxxx

I was sitting on a blanket in a pretty pasture. Little yellow flowers were beginning to push their heads through the soft earth all around me. The sun was warm on my head and arms, so I removed my shoes and socks for it to warm them too. I was badly in need of a pedicure as rough socks and winter boots had really done a number on my feet. I laid back to let my face soak up the warm rays and noticed a white puffy cloud slowly making it's way toward the sun. It kind of looked like Mickey Mouse; it had a round face, a big nose and two big ears. I giggled to myself at the similarity, then closed my eyes to just enjoy the pleasures of nature.

"Stephanie," I heard an unfamiliar voice calling me. When I heard it again, I opened my eyes and realized I had been dreaming. I was on Carlos' couch. I looked around and no one was there.

"Clyde?" I said out loud.

My phone was still in my hand so I looked to the screen in case he wanted to communicate. I knew he could only speak for so long and I could sense his presence near me.

"It's after midnight. I thought you might want to go to bed. I'd put covers on you, but I don't think I can generate that much energy."

"Thanks Clyde. I fell asleep. You're still here?"

"I told you I was going to stay with you tonight in case you needed me."

"Thank you, but I'm ok. You can go haunt Joe if you want."

"Unless you're throwing me out, I'm staying. You had a tough day. I'd hate for you to have a nightmare and there be no one here to hold your hand."

Oh my God. Could he have said anything more kind and caring? I think I was in love with two men again.

"You're the best Clyde," I said in response. I really couldn't think of anything truer.

"Ranger better not hear you say that."

"Oh he's a big pussycat. His bark is worse than his bite. He won't hurt you."

"He can't, I'm already dead," he said then thought about it a little more. "Well I guess the only way he really could hurt me would by forbidding you from spending any time with me."

"Don't say that. Not going to happen. Oh Clyde I wish I could give you a hug."

"Maybe that parapsychologist can teach me how to harness enough energy to get some sort of a body back. Something huggable. I at _least_ want to be able to dance with you and Ella at your wedding."

I thought it best to change the subject in case Dr. Fishbourne had nothing to offer Clyde in way of a suggestion. "Since you're so good at googling want to help me run some searches on my skips tomorrow?"

"Sure, after we call Dr. Fishbourne."

Shit.

"I'm going to call it a night. If you want to watch another movie, feel free to rent one. Carlos won't mind."

"Thanks. If you need me call me. I'll be here."

I padded off towards the bedroom. It felt weird leaving Clyde out there so I turned around to offer him another option. "I don't know if you sleep, but our bed is huge and oh so comfy. You're welcome to join me. Platonic of course."

"In case you haven't noticed, platonic is all I can do. But I'd love to join you. Thanks."

I felt bad for Clyde. I guessed having your life cut short that young was hard. I think he so much wanted to be alive and vibrant.

I woke up once during the night sensing that someone was in the bed with me. For a minute I thought it was Carlos and reached around to bring him close. Of course there was no physical body there but just in case I reached for something I shouldn't have, I mumbled to Clyde. "Sorry."

When I woke up again it was morning. I could sense that Clyde was still with me. "Sleep well?" I asked. My phone was on the night table so I picked it up to check for a reply.

"I don't know how you and Ranger get any sleep. You were all over me last night."

"I was not. Well, just once. But I apologized."

"Don't worry about it, I was just teasing you. Let's get up and get ready so we can call Dr. Fishbourne."

I really hoped Clyde wasn't going to be disappointed if the parapsychologist didn't have answers for him.

I took a shower and did my hair. I added a coat of mascara while I made coffee, and then I called Ella.

"Good morning Stephanie. I hope you slept well. Any request this morning?"

I remembered Clyde's reaction to my pancakes yesterday and I really didn't want a repeat performance of that…well on top of my grabbing for him in the middle of the night, so I told Ella that Carlos' usual would be fine for me. Whole grain bagel with light cream cheese and smoked salmon. I didn't think I'd moan over light cream cheese.

I was 'quietly' eating my breakfast and deleting all the junk emails that appeared over night when my phone rang. I looked at the display before picking it up. It was John Bucci.

"Hello?"

"Stephanie. John Bucci. I just wanted to let you know that I got all the permits and I'm heading up to your house now to post them. We're on schedule to start the demolition on Monday."

"Great thanks."

I hung up with him and realized I had never given him a keyfob to get past the gate.

"Shit," I said out loud. "Clyde do you feel like going for a ride? I don't think John can get in to post the permits. He said he was on his way."

"Sure. We can call the good doctor when we get back."

I grabbed my bag and an extra key for the house and gate from the credenza and headed down to the garage.

I fobbed open the Cayenne, buckled in and engaged the engine. I let myself out of the garage and made a left towards Ewing. I hoped I got there before John did.

When I got to the house the gate was locked and no one was around. I fobbed it open and left it that way so John would know we were here and I drove up the hill to the house. There was a Chevy Silverado parked in front. I guessed John had a key after all. Well I was here, so I figured might as well say hi and make sure everything was in order.

I parked and went into the house.

"John?" I called out. "It's Stephanie. I didn't think you had a key?"

"Hi Steph. It's Jimmy. I'm in the boiler room posting one of the permits where the fire department wants it. Come on down."

Shit.

I took the stairs down knowing Clyde was with me. When I got to the bottom to make the turn onto the earth floor, hands grabbed me.

"Stephanie Plum," someone said pinning my arms behind my back and grabbing my breasts roughly, "I always wondered if you were as juicy as your name."

"Jimmy let me go."

"You know you want me Steph," he said grabbing my shirt and tearing it. The way he had me I couldn't get a leg up to knee him in the balls, so I waited for an opportunity for him to either loosen his grip on me or make a move. He ripped open my jeans and started to pull them down.

I tried to bite the arm across my breast, but it was just out of reach. Fuck. If I couldn't get my knee up I had the feeling he was going to rape me.

I was struggling with him when a voice said loudly, "Leave her alone."

He looked around and slightly loosed his grip on me saying, "What the fuck?"

"Leave her alone," the voice said again. The distraction was all I needed to wiggle a bit and use my knee to my advantage.

I hit my target and he fell to the floor. He took me down with him but I managed to break away. I kicked him hard in the side and once to his head, hoping to knock him out while I reached for the cuffs in my bag and called Rangeman.

I didn't know the Ewing police so I was going to let Rangeman handle that call.

I cuffed him to the boiler and also found some rope to bind his feet. I left his Mr. Wiggly out so his intent would be obvious, although my ripped clothes painted just as good a picture.

"Stephanie?" I heard from upstairs. It was Tank and Lester.

"I'm ok, but can you bring me a jacket."

Tank came down while I guessed Les went back out to the car to bring in a windbreaker.

"Little Girl, what happened?" he asked coming over to put his arms around me.

I told him about the permits and explained why we were here when Les came down with a jacket for me. He took one look at me and one at Jimmy and he went over and split Jimmy's lip. He was going in for another punch when I heard a familiar voice call from upstairs.

"Cupcake?"


	21. Chapter 21—Beneath the Jacket

_Blinky, Pinky, Inky and Clyde_

This takes place after "It's a new day, it's a new dawn, it's a new year"

A/N Thank you so much for reading along and for all your wonderful reviews. They really do keep me going. :) Thank you :)

M rating (mostly for language)

**Thank you Margaret** for reading ahead as my Beta. :) I much appreciate :)

Don't own the characters (except for Clyde), just playing :)

**Chapter 21—Under the jacket**

I held on to Tank tighter as Joe came down the stairs.

"Cupcake, are you all right?"

"I'm ok," I said. "What are you doing here? I thought Rangeman called the _Ewing_ PD?"

"My transfer went through. Ewing picked me up as a detective in their Crimes Against Persons division. I've been with them since Monday. What happened?"

I told Joe what I had just told Tank, of course leaving out Clyde's involvement this time.

"Did he penetrate you? Do you need some medical attention?"

"No I'm ok. I was able to distract him and then knee him in the balls before he had a chance to do anything."

"A couple of black and whites are on the way with a rape kit. I'm sorry but we'll need a statement before I can let you leave."

"I understand Joe. I know this isn't Trenton but I'd like Les and Tank to stay with me," I said, reaching out to Lester and bringing him over so I was surrounded by Rangemen.

I heard another familiar voice upstairs. "Stephanie? Bomber?"

"Bobby, we're down here. I'm ok."

Bobby and Hector descended the stairs two at a time and I ran over to them. I guessed the reality of what could have happened just set in. The tears started flowing from my eyes.

"Are you ok Steph?" Bobby asked. "He didn't hurt you did he?"

"Bruises probably. But no he didn't hurt me. Stay please. Ewing's rape team is on the way and I don't want them to touch me."

I wasn't one hundred percent sure if Clyde's aura test was accurate, but I wasn't letting anyone but Bobby look me over. God forbid they found out I was pregnant. The news would be all over town and I wanted Carlos to be the first to know. Well after me, that was.

I heard my door open once again and four police officers came down the stairs. Two went over to Jimmy Bucci and roughly unhooked him from my boiler and got him to his feet.

"Can I have my cuffs back?" I asked, knowing I'd lose another pair if I let them walk off with them. Cuffs were expensive.

One of the officers took pity on my request. He uncuffed and recuffed him with him own restraints. He handed me back mine and they took Jimmy upstairs, probably for a beating before taking him to the precinct lockup.

The female officer wanted to get pictures of my bruises for the record. I wasn't going to disrobe in front of everyone and I told her I wanted Bobby present. He showed her his medic creds and she reluctantly agreed he could come with us upstairs for the photo op.

By now my bruises were coming out. I had angry welts and yellow and purple bruises over both breasts and Bobby winced when he saw them. As I lowered my jeans I realized my whole left hip hurt. I looked over at it and it was already swollen and dark purple.

"Bomber, you're going to need some attention to that one. After the photos are done let me clean that up and put an antibiotic on it."

There was a knock on the door as she was finishing up the pictures. "Knock, knock, Stephanie, I'm…holy shit you are _not okay_," Joe said taking in my hip bruise. "I was going to say that I'm leaving, but do you want me to stay? I don't see Manoso here."

"Thanks Joe, but I'll be ok. It's just a scrape. Carlos had to go out of town for a few days but I'm staying at Haywood so I'll be fine."

"Well I'm sorry this had to happen to you. Call me if you need me." Turning to Bobby he added, "Take good care of her and let me know if I can be of any help."

With that he took off for parts unknown.

The Ewing officer left me and Bobby alone so he could treat my bruises. I winced when he tried to clean the scrape with an antiseptic swab.

"Bobby that hurts."

"How did this happen? You have pieces of cement in here?"

"I guess he scraped me against the wall trying to rip my pants off. It's not going to get infected is it?"

"I just need to clean it out. It may hurt. Would you rather I do this back in the office? I can numb the area with a topical first and it'll be easier to clean."

"I think that's a good idea. Besides it's cold in here and I'm half-exposed."

"I'm sorry Bomber. And I think the officers are waiting downstairs for you to give them your statement. You don't need all of us here with you; Hector and I can head back to Rangeman. Come to my office when you get back."

"Stay, please," I almost pleaded. "I don't know these officers and I'd like you Tank, Les and Hector around me for moral support. Please?"

"I guess I can stay if you really want me here."

"Yes," I demanded and I saw Bobby smile a little. "I want your opinion about what to do now too. Should I find a new demolition company? I don't want to wait for Carlos to come back to start looking. It'll delay our wedding."

"Let's talk to Tank and Les. Come on, get dressed and we'll go downstairs."

Bobby was right; the officers were waiting for me. After I gave them my statement, I somehow added in, "I don't know why he would try to do this to me, I've know him since maybe the fifth grade."

"Didn't anyone tell you?" the female officer asked.

"Tell me what?"

"He's a registered sex offender. It's required by law that you be informed about him. You weren't told?"

"They may have told my fiancé, but no one told me directly. And Jimmy has _always_ creeped me out. If I knew, I probably would have asked Carlos to find another company."

"Well he's probably going away for a long time now. I'm just sorry you weren't alerted earlier. It might have prevented this from happening. Are you going to be ok?"

I assured the officers that I was fine and they left me with the guys.

I hadn't felt Clyde's presence since I went upstairs for the pictures. I wondered where he was.

"Did Clyde let any of you know where he was going?" I asked.

"Sí Chica. I told him that I thought the Grizzoli's were having a closed door meeting right now and he left to go listen in. He said he'd be back as soon as he got some information."

"He wants to join Rangeman you know?"

"Who told you that?" Tank asked.

"He did. He says he's enjoying himself and wanted to ask Carlos about coming on staff."

"I don't want to bring up the obvious, but how do you pay someone who's dead?"

"I think he may have had an idea for that too. He said he wanted to talk to Carlos when he got back." Changing the subject I added, "Tank, do you know if he was deployed yet?"

"I haven't heard anything, but I didn't expect to. We'll hear when he's back. Shall we take you to Rangeman?"

"Ok, but let's talk in the car. I'm not quite sure what do about the demolition now. I feel like we were lied to by Bucci. I can't think of any other reason why Carlos wouldn't have told me?"

"Do you want to stop by their offices? It's on the way and we can confront him in person. You don't have to do this by yourself, we'll be with you."

I liked that idea and told the guys so.

They had two cars and I had the Cayenne. We left one of the Rangemn SUVs at the house and Bobby and Hector came with me. Les and Tank followed us in their Explorer. John Bucci wasn't going to know what hit him.

I saw lights on in the trailer as we approached, so someone was there. Obviously it wasn't Jimmy.

We parked and made our way to his office as a group. I opened the door. John was sitting at the desk and looked surprised to see me. He looked more surprised to see the entourage that followed.

"Stephanie, what's up?"

"Your brother tried to rape me. Why didn't you tell us he was a registered sex offender? The Ewing police department told me it's the law."

"Whoa, step back. He tried to rape you?"

"Yeah and he would have been successful if these guys didn't show up when they did." I lied for a good reason.

"I'm sorry Steph. I was told he was rehabilitated. I spoke with Ranger about it and he said fifteen years was long enough; to just forgive and forget."

"Well no one told me and I went into that house trusting. Obviously I didn't make it out that way," I said showing just a little of my ripped clothing under the Rangeman windbreaker.

"Shit. I am so sorry."

"He's in Ewing's custody and now I'm not sure what to do about _you_? I can report you for not disclosing that information to me. Or we can work this out."

"As I said, I'm sorry, I never expected…"

"Yeah let's not go there again."

"What if we do the excavating for free? It's one of the more expensive parts of the demolition and I know you don't want to keep the same footprint."

I thought he was offering me a good deal. Jimmy wasn't going to be part of the team and he was taking thousands of dollars off the cost of the work.

I looked back to Tank for some sort of acknowledgement. He gave me a slight nod. I guessed he thought it was a good deal too.

"There are no other registered sex offenders on your payroll that I need to worry about, are there?"

"Jesus no. Again, I am so sorry."

"Ok it's a deal. Are we still on schedule to start on Monday or do you need to find someone else to dismantle the plumbing?"

"We can keep to the schedule. I'll do the dismantling myself if I have to, but I have a very good plumber on my payroll. His name is Mike and I think you'll like him. He's a grandfather and how can I say this without insulting him…he's um, very grandfatherly."

I thought about my grandpa Harry when he said that and all kinds of warm, mushy feelings swam around in my head. I was liking this guy already.

"So I'll like him?"

"All my clients like him."

"So why were you hiding him from us? Why did we get stuck with Jimmy then?"

"He's my brother and I felt that I owed him a job. Listen, I'm sorry, that was poor judgment on my part. Won't happen again."

"Oh it won't. I don't think he'll be getting out of jail for a very long time."

"Maybe that's where he belongs," John muttered.

Something made me turn around and I saw Hector taking his cell phone out of his pocket. He looked at the text display, excused himself and went outside. I wondered if it was Clyde? I didn't hear the buzz of an incoming text, so to me it was a distinct possibility.

I guessed we were finished here as John got up to shake hands on our new deal.

"See you Monday then," he said.

"Oh you may need these," I added, taking the extra fob and keys out of my bag and handing them to him, "That is, unless you plan on visiting the Ewing PD and getting my keys back from them."

"Thanks. I'll get your keys back eventually, but I'm not in any rush to see my brother. Let him sit there."

When we got outside, Hector was by the Rangeman SUV texting away.

"Clyde?" I asked as I got close enough to speak without yelling.

"Sí. He's got some interesting information. Let's meet in Tank's office in fifteen minutes."

We took our separate cars back to Rangeman. Bobby and Hector we're with me and even though I tried to get information out of Hector, he wasn't sharing. He was too busy texting. It only took us about ten minutes to get to Haywood so I stopped in the break room to grab a sandwich before heading to Tank's office.

The guys had pretty much devoured everything Ella prepared and all that was left was a chicken salad and a turkey on whole grain. Even though I had it yesterday, I took the turkey again.

Everyone was assembled in Tank's office, so I took the empty chair and sat down. Hector got up and closed the door. I wanted to get a couple of bites in before the meeting got serious, so I unwrapped the wax paper that was around my sandwich and everyone turned to look at me.

"Sorry, I'm hungry. Just let me take a bite and I'll put this aside."

"It's ok Beautiful," Lester said grinning broadly, "We know how you love your food."

I would have smacked him, but that meant getting up. Instead I took a bite and with my mouth full asked Hector what he heard.

"Clyde was able to sit in the meeting undetected. He said Terry was there along with seven other people he didn't know. And someone named Vito led the meeting."

"Vito Grizzoli, Terry's uncle," I added.

"That's what I told him Chica. Seems like they were talking about getting into the wind and water business."

"The what?"

"Hydroelectric and windmill power. It's the latest alternative energy thing in upscale urban areas. People are giving up their electric companies to be off the grid. Looks like the Grizzolis want to join the bandwagon."

"That doesn't seem very _illegal_," I added.

"It does when you're stealing the power from the people producing it."

"Oh. Is this what the FBI was looking for?"

"They didn't know what to expect. All they knew was that the heads of some of the larger families in the northeast were congregated at Vito's compound and something was going on."

"Is stealing electricity big money?"

"It's _alternative_ sources of electricity. You can charge double for your electric if it's green. So sí, it's pretty big money."

"So do you have enough info for the feebs or does Clyde need to hang around?" I asked selfishly, as he had promised to help me with my searches this afternoon and I was kind of missing him too.

"We don't know who they are stealing the electricity from or how they are doing it, or even what the name of their fraudulent electric company is called, but we'll call the feebs with what we do have and see if that's enough for them to go in there with a warrant. If not, we might need Clyde to do a little more investigating."

"Does he know?"

"Yes. He said he'll hang out there on standby. He said watching Terry in action was interesting."

"Yeah, I bet it was." Just what does everyone see in her?

Tank was going to call our contact at the FBI and he said we could stay if we wanted to hear firsthand what they said. Not a one of us got up to leave. Guessed we all found this interesting.

"Jason? Tank from Rangeman. I have some information...," Tank said, placing his call and then relaying what we did know.

"No I can't reveal our source, you'll just have to believe me when I tell you that it would be hard to find a more accurate account."

"He's there now and said he stay if we needed him to."

"I can't tell you that, it would be breaking a confidence. Is this good enough?"

The feebs wanted more, so Hector texted Clyde to see what more he could find out.

"They are out of their meeting and they don't talk about anything but the weather unless they are behind closed doors," he texted back to Hector. "I'll stay another few hours to see if something slips. How's Steph?"

He was asking about me. That made my heart go pitter patter. I'd text him later.

After the meeting broke up, I went upstairs to shower and change. I'd almost forgotten that under the Rangeman windbreaker that came to my knees, I was torn, bruised and battered. As I was spending the evening alone I didn't spend a lot of time on my hair or makeup. I pulled my hair into a ponytail and added one light coat of mascara. I had just gotten comfortable on the couch and booted up my laptop to run a search on the new skips when my cell phone rang.

It was Bobby.

"I didn't want you to forget about cleaning out that scrape. It could get infected if you don't get the dirt out."

"I just washed it with soap and water. I think I'm ok."

"Come down for five minutes. I promise it won't take longer than that.

I did as he asked and met him in his infirmary. He numbed the area with a topical anesthetic and pulled pieces of cement and dirt out with a tweezer. He then bathed the area in an antibiotical cream and bandaged it up. He gave me some samples of bacitracin to put on if I got it wet. Bobby was a saint.

I thanked him with a hug and made my way back upstairs. I was in the elevator when my cell rang again.

Joe's name popped on the display. I wondered what he wanted now.

"Hey Joe, what's up?"

"I just wanted to see how you were doing. That looked like a nasty bruise on your hip. Are you ok?"

"Thanks Joe. Yeah I'm ok. Bobby cleaned it out and put some stuff on it. I'll be fine in a few days."

"Good. Would you like to go out to dinner? Manoso's away and so is Terry; we could grab something at Pinos. It would be like old times."

It would never be like old times, but since Joe and I were friends now I thought it wouldn't do any harm to just meet for a meatball sub. Clyde wasn't with me and wouldn't be nauseated by the smell and the idea of spending an evening alone with my skips didn't thrill me. We agreed to meet at Pinos at six-thirty. I hoped I made the right decision.


	22. Chapter 22—What's in a name?

_Blinky, Pinky, Inky and Clyde_

This takes place after "It's a new day, it's a new dawn, it's a new year"

A/N Thank you so much for reading along and for all your wonderful reviews. They really do keep me going. :) Thank you :)

M rating (mostly for language)

**Thank you Margaret** for reading ahead as my Beta. :) I much appreciate :)

Don't own the characters (except for Clyde), just playing :)

**Chapter 22—What's in a name?**

As six-thirty drew closer I was getting more and more agitated. I was thinking I'd made a bad decision to meet Joe for dinner, and I wasn't quite sure what to do about it. I could call him and bow out or I could bring a backup along with me. This wasn't a real date, so I was pretty sure Joe wouldn't be mad if I asked one of the guys to come along.

I called Hector first.

"Hola Chica, what's up?"

"Are you busy? Would you like to go out to dinner with me tonight?"

"Chica? You sound a little nervous."

"Morelli called me a couple of hours ago and invited me to a friendly dinner at Pinos…for a sub. I agreed, but I'm thinking better of it now and I can hear Carlos saying, "When something doesn't feel right, bring a backup."

"So you want me to be your backup?"

"Yes."

"Ok. I was planning on staying by my phone in case Clyde heard anything, but I'll have it with me, I can always step outside for a text. What time?"

"Six-thirty."

"Chica? We'll need to leave now. You sure waited for the last minute to form your back-up plan."

"I know. I'm sorry."

"Give me five minutes. I'll meet you at the Cayenne."

"Thanks Hector. I owe you."

"De nada. See you in a few."

Hector and I bumped into each other in the elevator. It stopped on five as I was coming down from seven and he got on.

"Chica," he smiled and gave me a kiss to both cheeks Latin style. "Looks like _we_ have a date with the cop tonight. He does have a nice ass."

"Hector, he's so hetero it's not funny. But what I wouldn't give to see his face if you hit on him."

"Hmm. Maybe I will. Give him the heebie jeebies for a long time."

"Actually I think Clyde is giving him the heebie jeebies. He's been over there haunting him every night since he slapped me."

Hector smiled so broadly I thought his teeth might fall out of his mouth. "No shit Chica? Holy Mother of God, that is so awesome."

"Don't say anything. He plans to continue. Joe thinks he's his uncle Sallie."

"Oh shit man, that's the best. I have to hand it to Clyde, he has style."

I fobbed open the Cayenne and we got in.

"This feels weird Chica. I should be driving. We're heading out on a date."

"You really want to drive?"

"Sí."

"Ok, be my guest," I said getting out to change places with him.

When we got to Pinos, Joe was already there. I saw him smile when he caught a glimpse of me opening the door and walking in. His face fell when he saw Hector.

"Hey Joe," I said bypassing the waitress and walking over to his booth. "You know Hector, don't you?"

"Hey man. Cupcake?"

"Sorry Joe, I was feeling a little apprehensive about going out by myself after my day today and Hector volunteered to drive me. I thought it would be ok if he had dinner with us."

"Sure Cupcake. How ya doin' Hector?"

"Bien. ¿Tú?" Hector said and winked at Joe.

"I'm sorry Joe, Hector's English isn't that good," I replied, using the old fall back line that had been used on me. Hector's English was perfect.

Joe and I ordered meatball subs and Hector chicken parmesan.

"So where's Terry?" I asked to make conversation.

"She's doing some work for her uncle. I'm not quite sure where she is. New York maybe."

"Oh. Are you guys happy together?" I added just to see what he'd say.

"We're not really together like that. We're just good friends."

"Friends with benefits."

"I guess you could say that."

"And how's Bob?"

"I think Bob misses you. You should stop by to see him one day."

If I was reading Joe right, 'Bob misses you' was code for I'd like to have sex with you. And I wasn't going there, or even acknowledging it.

"Who Bob?" Hector asked, looking mildly interested.

"Bob is Joe's Golden Retriever. He's a good boy."

"Oh," Hector said, maybe just a little sadly.

"Well give him a nice head scratch for me."

Our food arrived at that moment. And somehow our waitress mixed up Joe and Hector's order.

Hector reached over to swap plates and touched Joe's hand lightly…and for just a little longer than necessary. I had to control myself so I didn't burst out laughing. This could prove to be a very interesting evening.

"So how do you like working in Ewing?" I asked Joe between bites. "Better than Trenton?"

"Don't get me wrong, I liked Trenton, I just wanted to get out of Vice and they had nothing to offer me. I applied to both Ewing and Hamilton Township and Ewing had a vacancy. It's fine, much smaller footprint and it's a little on the sleepy side. But that's ok, I get to go home to Bob on a regular basis."

"You actually look exhausted Joe, I had a feeling you were working long hours," I told him. And he did. He looked like he hadn't slept in weeks. Come to think of it, he probably hadn't.

"No, there are other things keeping me up at night. Um, how do I say this without you thinking I've lost my mind?"

"Just say it Joe."

"I think my Uncle Sallie is haunting me."

"Say what?"

"I come home to open cabinets or I wake in the middle of the night to running water and an overflowing sink. That's happened twice. The cabinets are almost nightly. I shut them and they're open again by morning. I think Uncle Sallie is angry that I did a little work around the place. It seems like only the things I've replaced are targeted. The new bathroom I put in and the kitchen remodel."

"I'm sorry Joe. That must be tough. Maybe you can make peace with him?"

"How do you make peace with a ghost?"

"I don't know. Tell him you're sorry you updated the place. Maybe he doesn't know that Aunt Rose left it for you. Try telling him," I offered, remembering the things Artemis told me to do with Clyde and the Sweeneys. Of course I knew nothing was going to work until Clyde felt Joe was punished enough. And that could take years.

"I feel like he's watching me when I sleep, so I stopped sleeping to see if I could catch him."

"Joe you have to sleep, that's not healthy."

"Yeah, I know. I try to make it up during the day on the weekends. I'll try talking to him, see if that works." "You know what's funny though?" he continued.

"No, what?"

"He lets Bob out to take care of business."

"That doesn't seem possible, are you sure?"

"If he can open cabinet doors, I guess he can open the back door. Lately Bob hasn't had to go when I got home and a few times I've noticed fresh piles in the backyard. No Uncle Sallie is definitely letting him out."

"Well maybe he's not such a bad ghost after all."

"He just hates me. Listen, let's change the subject, I don't want to talk about this anymore. Ok?"

"Sure Joe whatever you want."

"Maybe he not hate you; maybe he _like_ you?" Hector said out of nowhere, emphasizing the 'like' and winking at Joe again.

I wasn't sure I could keep a straight face and when I looked over at Joe, he was looking a little green. I hadn't had this much fun in a long time. It looked like my two biggest protectors aside from Carlos were having a field day with him. I could probably pull the plug on it, but he deserved a little payback. I'd think about telling them to back off _maybe_ next week.

We had finished eating and Hector and Joe split the check. They wouldn't let me contribute a cent. That was very nice considering I invited Hector.

When we got up to leave Hector reached out to Joe and started brushing away crumbs from the front of his shirt. His hand lingered a little too long on Joe's chest. Joe shivered and pulled back.

"Crusty bread." He said, and then he added, "Nice chest."

"Back off," Joe said.

"I sorry. I thought you like," he said and winked at Joe once more.

Joe threw a couple more dollars on the table, obviously trying to get out of there as quickly as possible and probably so thrown by Hector's advances that he forgot he'd already tipped quite well. I couldn't wait to share this with Clyde.

As soon as we got to the Cayenne, Hector took his phone out of his pocket. He had a text from Clyde.

"Chica, can you drive? I want to talk to Clyde."

"Sure Hector. What's up?'

"Someone mentioned a name over dinner. Verde Elettricco. Verde means green in Italian. It's also a common last name. Elettricco is electric. I think he's picked up on something."

"Maybe now there's enough for the feebs. Do you want to call Tank?"

"I'd rather gloat over Joe, but sí, I'll call Tank."

He had his phone in his hand, so he placed the call. He mentioned the name Clyde picked up on and Tank told him he was on it. Two minutes later Tank confirmed there was an electric company that had been established three months ago by the name of Verde Electric. It was already promoting itself heavily. The 877 number we all got calls from regularly to switch our electric was from them.

I hoped they'd get caught before they scammed too many people out of money. But I wasn't sure. If they got my grandmother on the phone she'd be all over it, well except for the fact that the electric was in my dad's name and her social security check was already spent on other things.

I was off on my own thinking and didn't realize Hector and Tank were still talking and that Hector had put his phone on speaker so I could hear until Tank's voice boomed out, "Their call center is located in Warren Township. I think we should pay them a visit."

"Stephanie and I can go tomorrow. See if they have any job openings maybe one or both of us can apply for a job."

"Where are you now?" Tank asked.

"I'm with Steph; we're heading back to Rangeman. We just had a date with the cop."

"Do I want to know about this?"

"Um, probably not," I added and Hector chuckled, obviously still laughing over Joe's reaction to being hit on by him.

Hector disconnected just as I pulled into the Rangeman garage. We told him we'd stop by his office in the morning, so I was surprised when the elevator opened after we pressed the button to go up and Tank greeted us.

"Let's go to my office. Verde Electric is looking for a person to head up their IT department and someone else for their customer service division. I think you both fit the bill. I asked Hal to join us and set you up with new identities tonight."

"Um, I can't start work on Monday," I added. "I have to be at the house, we're starting demolition."

"_Someone_ can be at your house. If we can infiltrate Verde Electric, this will be a huge feather in the cap for Rangeman. If Hector can get that job as their IT Director he'll have access to _all_ their data. And furthermore Steph, as the head of their customer service division you'll hear more than you've ever imagined. Just keep your ears open and we'll have enough for the feebs to go in and take down Grizzolli and his cronies."

"How can you be so sure we'll both get the job? I mean don't a lot of people apply for things like this?"

"They do, but as the Customer Service Director for BMW, you will be more than qualified for the position."

"Oh. And I'd want to leave _that_ job why?"

"Quality of Life. BMW is located in Chestnut Ridge, an hour in each direction from your home in Franklin Township. Warren is only 20 minutes away."

"And if they call BMW for a reference, who's going to say that Stephanie whatever my name is of _Franklin Township_ worked there for the last _how many years_ and la de dah?"

"You ask a lot of questions little girl. We have very good friends at BMW, they'll vouch for anything I ask them to."

"And what about Hector?"

"He's head of IT for Dunn & Bradstreet. Yes we have connections there too. You guys will get the jobs. If not, they are seriously incompetent."

While we were talking Hal came in with IDs and resumes for both of us.

I was Stephanie Pardo. I think that was one of the alias' Carlos set up for me years ago. I had a bachelor's degree in business administration from The College of New Jersey. I'd been at BMW for the last seven years and was looking to find a job closer to home. I was married to Marc Pardo and we had one child, Jerrica Katherine, currently in day care.

"How did you come up with this?"

"We had it in our data base. I just had to activate all information so that if anyone called to inquire it would pan out."

Hector was Antonio Garcia-Flores. He had a Ph.D. in computer science from Princeton University. He was multi-lingual, single and lived in Bridgewater, all of fifteen minutes away from Verde's call center which was perfect for their IT Director who could get an emergency call at any time of the day or night.

I took a look at Hector's, or should I say Antonio's, passport photo.

"No tats Hector."

"Sí, I can cover them up. It's all good."

"Well I guess we'll have to respond to something to get these interviews, won't we?"

"It's already done Bomber. You both submitted your resumes about an hour ago."

"God, you guys work fast."

"I suspect you'll both get calls in the morning. I'd set up your interviews for as soon as possible…."

"Tank," I interrupted, "are these our actual addresses, do you have apartments for us to live in?"

"Safe houses, yes. Yours is a very nice single-family home and Hector's is an apartment. You can stay there if you want. Your commute will be much shorter."

"What if someone follows me home and they see I don't have a husband living with me or a daughter that goes to daycare."

"You will, Bomber."

"You're kidding right?"

"I never kid about those things."

Shit. I turned around to leave and collect my thoughts on all of this when Lester appeared in Tank's doorway.

"You wanted me boss?"

"Yes, I have an assignment for you. Hal, give Santos his ID."

Hal handed a pile of papers to Les and he opened the U.S. Passport.

"Marc Pardo?" Lester read out loud. "Isn't this usually Ranger's alias?"

"It is when he's in town to _be_ Marc Pardo. Looks like you just won the name."


	23. Chapter 23—Hearing from Some of the Guys

_Blinky, Pinky, Inky and Clyde_

This takes place after "It's a new day, it's a new dawn, it's a new year"

A/N Thank you so much for reading along and for all your wonderful reviews. They really do keep me going. :) Thank you :)

M rating (mostly for language)

**Thank you Margaret** for reading ahead as my Beta. :) And also for your Jomo suggestions. Hope I pulled it off :). I much appreciate both :)

Don't own the characters (except for Clyde), just playing :)

**Chapter 23—Hearing from Some of the Guys**

I got a call at nine-thirty Friday morning from Verde Electric. They were very impressed with my resume and wanted to know if I could come in for an interview Monday at ten. I was meeting with Tamica Jones, the head of their HR department. Looked to me like they were trying to make this business as legit as they could, customer service department, IT department and now an HR department. Too bad what they were selling was stolen goods.

I hadn't had a chance to text Clyde last night to let him know about the plan. And he never showed up on his own, so I assumed he spent the night adding to Joe's stress level.

I picked up my phone to text him and saw I had two from him, both sent yesterday. Guessed I was even more tired than I thought I was.

"I'm at Joe's, just wanted to say hi," was the first text. "How was your dinner with Hector and Joe?" was the second.

I texted him back, apologizing for not seeing his texts last night. Then I told him about my interview and setting up house with Lester and our yet unknown day-care-aged daughter in Franklin Township.

"Oh boy, are you going to have your hands full. Want some help?"

"Sure. I guess I'll move in on Sunday so I can drive to my interview Monday morning. Want to help me pack?"

"That wasn't what I had in mind. I thought I could keep Lester out of your hair and entertain your kid."

"You can't go scaring pre-school children. Voices from behind a mirror isn't a good idea."

"It depends on the child. Want me to find out who it is?"

"How are you going to do that? I don't think Tank knows yet."

"I bet he does. I'll just sneak around in his office. I'll be up in fifteen minutes."

Ten minutes later I could sense Clyde in the apartment with me.

"What did you learn?" I asked and picked up my phone to see his response.

"Looks like two possibilities. Ella's sister's granddaughter or Lester's sister's kid. Nothing is confirmed yet, but either way you get a grandma in the deal."

"Elena? Les' mom?"

"His sister wouldn't have another mother, would she?"

"That would be cool. I like her. And she'd certainly keep Lester in line."

"I thought that was my job?"

"Les is a pain in the ass enough for both of you. I guess we'll just have to wait to see who accepts. I want to text Hector and let him know about my interview."

"I'm Monday at eleven," came a text back from Hector. "Meeting that same chick."

Well it looked like Tank was right and our stellar resumes got us interviews with Grizzolli's fraudulent company. Let's hope we both got job offers. It would be nice to have someone there to talk to, even though I guessed I'd have to pretend I didn't know him.

Clyde was in the apartment while I packed my suitcase. I wanted to be ready in case Tank thought we should leave today. I was closing my bag when my phone rang. I'd been talking to Clyde, so I reached over and grabbed it before it went to voicemail. It was Tank.

"Hey Bomber, I was looking for you on five."

"I decided to run my searches from here this morning and pack for the week. Well at least I figured it would only take a week. What's up?"

"I thought you'd like to know that Lester's niece graciously volunteered to be your daughter, but only as long as her grandmother came too."

"Les' mom Elena right?"

"Right. I understand you guys know each other. That'll make it easier. And hopefully Santos will behave."

"Clyde's coming too."

"Do you think that's a good idea?"

"He says he's a good babysitter and he promises not to scare her."

"Remains to be seen. If Tallie's traumatized, it's all your fault.

"That's her name? Tallie?"

"Talia, but they call her Tallie. She's adorable. She's three and looks like a total half-Latina, half-white kid. Very easily could be yours and Santos'."

"What's Les' sister's name?"

"Simone."

"'And Simone's married to a white guy?"

"No Simone's husband is Puerto Rican, but Tallie has more of her grandmother's coloring. Les' mom is Irish and Italian."

"I _knew_ she wasn't Spanish. How did she ever get the name Elena with that parentage?"

"Her name is Marielena. I think she's named after her two grandmothers, Mary from Ireland and Elena from Italy."

"Is Tallie going to get all confused if we call her Jerrica? Isn't that the name of the Pardos' daughter?"

"She just needs to come and go with her grandmother, no one needs to call her anything outside of the house. And for all we know, there may not even be anyone watching you. I'd just be prepared in case they were."

"Oh and Tank…?"

"Did anyone ever tell you that you ask a lot of questions?" he interrupted me.

"Sorry. I just wanted to know when we were leaving."

"Tomorrow morning," he said and disconnected before I could ask what time.

_**Joe's POV**_

I had hoped to have a nice dinner with Steph. I never expected one of Manoso's goons to come too. And the gay one at that. I felt like I had to take a shower when I got home; he just kept touching me. I couldn't have been any more skeeved out. What was Stephanie thinking bringing him along?

I wondered if she picked up on my subtle hint that Bob missed her? Jeez I haven't gotten laid in weeks. With Manoso out of town maybe she'd be horny too and stop by. Or maybe I could get Grandma Bella to put another spell on her? She said she just wanted to go, go, go the last time. Could be fun.

Well if the truth be known, I miss her a lot. I miss the easy way we just hung out together. Pizza and beer or a meatball sub in front of the TV. No judgments, no expectations. Well sometimes I picked up on her need to get married, but I was pretty sure that was pressure from her mother. Other than that, life was good.

I know Manoso called me on my behavior after that weirdo Hal installed a camera across the street to monitor me. Shit, you'd think I was doing something wrong. Stephanie and I had given each other permission to see other people. I had a strong feeling that she'd been with Manoso at least once so I thought it was ok to continue seeing Terry. It just couldn't leak out to the community or TPD. But after Hal's video all bets were off. Steph's grandmother could have gotten a copy of it and showed it around town. No, I had to keep my relationship with Terry even quieter. I thought about finding another woman. Not another woman to take the place of Terry, but another woman to take some of the constant questioning off of me. Another Stephanie. Unfortunately, my heart wasn't in it. I wanted Steph. Well, Steph _and _Terry.

I shook the thoughts from my head as I parked in front of my house. I opened the door and heard the sound of water running. I did a quick walk through. Holy shit it looked like I'd been hit with a tornado. What I saw took my mind right off of my dick. The kitchen was flooded and the water found its way down the stairs to the basement. I knew I didn't leave the kitchen sink running when I left. Goddamn Uncle Sal. This was getting serious.

I remembered Steph's advice to just talk to the ghost, so I did.

"Uncle Sallie, this is your nephew Joseph. I know you haven't been around for a long time, but Aunt Rose left this house to me in her will. I love this place. I only made changes to update it. As you can see the main rooms are just as you left them. Why are you so angry with me?

I felt like the great and terrible Oz was going to strike me down with a loud, reverberating "Silence," but nothing happened. The water continued to overflow the sink and Bob was still whimpering in the background.

I got my head out of my ass, took off my shoes and socks, rolled up my pants and headed over to the sink to turn it off. I didn't realize the floor would be so slippery from the water and just as I reached the sink, I slid and fell ass first onto the wet floor. Now I was soaked and beyond pissed.

_**Clyde's POV**_

After I got the information that Tank needed I went to Ranger's apartment to see Stephanie. She wasn't there so I used what I can only call my internal tracking devise to see where she was. Her phone was at that restaurant Pinos, so I assumed she must be there too.

I headed out to find her. I wanted to let her know the latest on the Grizzollis. I saw her sitting in a booth at the back of the restaurant with Hector and the man I've been haunting for the last few weeks…Joe Morelli. Instead of going over and joining them I took the opportunity to go to Joe's house to do some serious mischief.

I talked to the dog before I did anything. We're old friends now and I think he looks forward to my afternoon visits. The poor guy always has to go so badly, so I usually let him out and tell him what I'm going to do to Joe that day. I swear he looks like he's laughing, well smiling at the very least.

When I told him my plan to flood the basement he looked concerned at first. But when I showed him the drain by the boiler he started wagging his tail. He thought it was a brilliant idea too. Until Joe actually made his way down to the basement he'd be wrought with fear that his brand new boiler and hot water heater were under feet of water. That would be good enough payback for me. And I wouldn't have to feel bad about ruining expensive equipment.

Bob and I were watching from the dry side of the kitchen when Joe came in. The panic on his face was one thing, but when we saw him slip on the wet floor and go down on his ass, Bob and I were practically rolling on the floor laughing. This was better than _I _even expected.

Well now that I knew he was home and had the fright of his life, I said goodbye to Bob and headed over to Ranger's place to see Stephanie. The aura around her middle was getting stronger every day, so I could only assume the baby implanted and was growing. I knew I had nine months to go, but I was getting excited to be an uncle. This little job that her, Les and Hector we're going to be doing had me a little worried. I wanted to let someone, preferably Bobby, know she was pregnant so maybe they could pull the plug on this whole thing. Unfortunately I got the feeling the pregnancy wasn't far enough along for it to show up on any tests and my only proof was an aura that no one but me could see.

"How was your dinner with Hector and Joe?" I texted her before I arrived.

When I didn't get an immediate response to that or my earlier text letting her know I was at Joe's, I got worried. But seeing her sound asleep under the covers with her hair haloed around her head, ended my concern. She needed her sleep.

I left to go talk to Hector.

_**Hector's POV**_

I'd gotten used to Clyde stopping by after he'd left Stephanie, so when I felt his presence I figured he wanted to talk, so I grabbed my phone.

"I'm a little apprehensive about the Verde Electric job you and Steph are applying for. Do you think it's safe? The Grizzollis seem like a bunch of unscrupulous people."

"We're not doing any apprehensions," I told him. "We're just going there to listen and gather information. We should be back home by end of the week and then the feebs will take the Grizzollis into custody. What's bugging you about this? It's pretty standard. We've both role-played for Rangeman before."

"Without breaking any confidences I can't tell you exactly, but it has to do with Steph's health."

"What are you talking about man? She's very healthy."

"I know something and so does she. I can't tell you more but you can guess. It's something only a woman can get."

"She has ovarian cancer?" I asked bringing up the first thing that popped into my head. My sister beat ovarian cancer.

"No, but right body part."

"Shit, she's pregnant."

"Yes, but I didn't tell you."

"Does anyone else know? Bobby? Tank?"

"No. No one, not even Ranger yet."

"It's Ranger's though, right? It's not that dickhead cop's, is it?"

"No, it's Ranger's. She's only a few days along and I don't think any kind of test works this early. I don't think she even believes it yet."

"But you're sure."

"I'm sure. I had us stop at Motherhood Maternity when we were in the mall so I could look at the abdominal aura of other pregnant women. It's the same."

"Well she won't be doing any takedowns and I'll keep my eye on her, but we should probably let Lester know. He's playing her husband this week."

"Can't do it. I promised Steph I'd keep it a secret."

"But you told me?"

"No you guessed. Different."

"What if I had Lester guess?"

"He can't tell Tank or Bobby until after Steph tells Ranger and I don't think she'll tell him until she takes a pregnancy test. I think she thinks my method is a little dubious. And you know Lester has a big mouth."

"If he guesses I'll make him promise to keep his mouth shut. I would just hate for anything to happen to her under his watch without him knowing. He's downstairs. We can go see him now."

Thankfully Lester was still in his office writing up a report. I knocked on his door and told him Clyde was with me and we wanted to talk to him. He looked a little confused but ushered us in and I closed the door before I sat down.

"Lester, Clyde just came to me. He's concerned about the three of us role-playing next week. Something about Steph's health and I'm not at liberty to say anything more."

"What the fuck are you talking about man? Steph is fine. I just saw her; she doesn't even have a cold."

"No she doesn't have a cold but she may have something else. I promised I wouldn't tell you, but you're at liberty to guess." Then I added in the way Clyde put it to me. "It's something that only women can get."

"Her period? Come on, I'm sure she's done distractions and more with her period. Steph's not…"

"Wrong answer. Right body part," I said before he went off on some weird train of thought.

"Shit. She's pregnant?"

I nodded my head.

"How do you know?"

"Clyde, tell him."

Clyde texted to both of our phones the exact same scientific method he explained to me.

"Shit," Lester said, "now I know why you had us stop at the maternity store. Fucking brilliant. Bobby needs to know about this. She'll need prenatal care."

"Clyde says she's only a few days along. Too soon for a test to show anything. She hasn't told Ranger yet because he's saving the world somewhere. And I doubt she'd want this to get out if Ranger doesn't know. I only told you so you could watch her. You know…if she starts to get morning sickness or something you'll know it's not food poisoning. We can't tell Bobby or Tank. That would be breaking her confidence."

"The two of you know. And you told me."

"We guessed. The only ones who _know_ are Clyde and Steph."

"Ok man, but I'm not a hundred percent comfortable with this."


	24. Chapter 24—Calling London

_Blinky, Pinky, Inky and Clyde_

This takes place after "It's a new day, it's a new dawn, it's a new year"

A/N Thank you so much for reading along and for all your wonderful reviews. They really do keep me going. :) Thank you :)

M rating (mostly for language)

**Thank you Margaret** for reading ahead as my Beta. :) I much appreciate :)

Don't own the characters (except for Clyde), just playing :)

**Chapter 24—Calling London**

_**Stephanie's POV**_

I don't know why everyone is treating me so nicely. Lester came upstairs to bring my suitcase down to 'our car' and Hector brought dinner last night. How the hell he knew I hadn't been eating much but PB&O sandwiches since Carlos left is beyond me. Probably Clyde. Or _Ella_.

As much as I love Ella's cooking I told her a couple of times this week that I didn't want any dinner. I mentioned that I had my old standby of PB&O and that was all I really wanted. Now that I think of it, she probably put Hector up to it. He's not usually _that_ nice.

I was a little nervous about my 'interview' and when I got nervous, I was just not that into food. It's no big deal really. I was sure I made up for it the other 350 days a year when I was glad for those good metabolism genes.

The intercom buzzed again, taking me out of my musings.

"Beautiful, I'm waiting for you in the car, you said you were coming right down," Lester said sounding impatient.

"Sorry Les, I got sidetracked. Be right down."

Suddenly I sensed Clyde with me too, so I dug out my phone to read his text.

"Bring Jeffrey Fishbourne's info with you. We never called him."

"I have it on my laptop," I said out loud in response. "Are you ready? Les is waiting for us in the car."

"Packed and ready as I'll ever be."

"You _packed_?"

"Just an expression. When you don't have a body you don't need much."

"We'll call Dr. Fishbourne as soon as we settle in. Maybe Elena can help too, she seems to know a lot about this metaphysical stuff."

We took the elevator down to the garage and waiting by the Cayenne were Les, Elena, a woman who looked enough like Les to be his sister and the most adorable curly-haired, green-eyed little girl.

"Hi Elena," I said going over to her to give her a kiss. "Simone?" I held my hand out and asked the woman who could only be Simone.

"Hi Steph, I'm so happy to finally meet you. My mom said great things about you; all Les said was that you were hot." "Steph, this is Tallie," she added.

"Hi Tallie," I said squatting down so we were the same height, "Nice to meet you," I added, extending my hand.

Tallie giggled and took it. "Hi. Mom said you, gram'ma and Uncle Lester are going to play with me while her and dad go on a 'cation."

"Of course we can play," I said and started to think about things I'd do with Lisa who was just about her age. "Where are mommy and daddy going?" I asked since she seemed pretty sophisticated for a three-year old.

"Cancún. It's in Mexico. Mom said I can't come because they're having Margaritas. Whatever that is. It's ok though, I love my gram'ma and we'll have our own 'acation."

"Ready ladies?" Les said breaking up our little party.

I said goodbye to Simone telling her not to worry, we'd take good care of Tallie and climbed into the front seat. Elena got Tallie buckled into the car seat in the back and then got in next to her. Lester kissed his sister goodbye and then folded himself into the driver's seat.

As he fobbed us out of the garage I could feel Clyde in the car with us. Wondered if Elena could sense him too?

I didn't want to scare Tallie, so I just asked it as a general question.

"Elena, do you remember Clyde?"

"Of course."

"Clyde? Tallie said brightly. "Is that who's sitting back here with us? Hi Clyde."

Obviously she wasn't a normal three-year old.

I wasn't sure what to say. I promised Tank I wouldn't traumatize her, so I said nothing hoping Elena would pick up the question.

"Tallie remember grandma told you about white spirits and black spirits? Clyde is a white spirit."

"Can I talk to him?" she asked excitedly.

"He uses a lot of energy to speak and that drains him. The best way for him talk to you is through texting, but he can hear every word you say if he's around."

"Do you want to play tic tac toe with me Clyde? I have crayons and paper."

I had my phone in my hand so I saw his response. I hoped Elena got one too.

"How about you, me and grandma play tic tac toe when we get to the house. I'll need her help."

"Ok," Tallie said. "Gram'ma, I don't know what you mean? Clyde just spoke to _me_. He said you and me and him could play later. And that he needed your help."

Holy shit.

"How did you do that?" I texted back, so I wouldn't scare Tallie. I r_eally_ wanted to know.

"The same way _you_ get my texts. I think it and she's receptive enough to just pick it up. Her mind is like that screen. I talk to Bob the same way."

"Bob the dog?"

"Yes."

"And what are we going to tell her mother? 'Um, Simone, just so you know, Tallie has special powers, she can talk to ghosts?'"

"Don't worry. It will be fine. I used to talk to the Sweeney kids all the time."

"Yeah and that's why they went off to school and never came back. You scared the crap out of them."

"Did not. They always looked for me when they came home. It was our secret."

Oh boy.

There was a lot of chatter from the backseat the rest of the drive. Tallie was talking to Clyde and her grandmother and thoroughly enjoying her new 'friend.' I was going over my resume and the other papers about Stephanie Pardo that Hal gave me. I wasn't going to screw this up if they had done their research and asked me questions I couldn't answer.

"Stephanie, Stephanie," came an excited call from the back seat, "do you know how old Clyde is?"

"No how old?" I had two answers and they were both correct depending on how you looked at it. I wasn't sure which one he told her…forty-three or one hundred and ten.

"He's old. He says he's forty-three. Isn't that old?"

Well at least he didn't tell her a hundred and ten. She'd think he was freaking archaic.

"That's not _that_ old Tallie. A little older than me and a little younger than your grandma."

"Gram'ma's ancient."

"Tallie," I said, not wanting her to upset her grandmother or Clyde for that matter.

"Well she is. _Fifty-five_ is old. Gram'ma told me she's fifty-five."

Lester was chuckling out loud about the whole thing when a hand whacked him on the back of the head. I knew his mother would keep him in line.

"You're the third oldest person in this car. So just shut up."

"I'm also the third youngest," came his retort back. Pain in the ass he was. And changing the subject he added, "Anyone want to listen to some music?"

I knew Lester's taste in music so I could only imagine what he'd turn on if I said yes. When he got no response, he asked again, "Music anyone?" and he turned on the radio.

The Cayenne had SiriusXM so I knew we wouldn't get any commercials but I was probably the last person to use the radio in the car. It could be loud.

'I'm gonna pop some tags. Only got twenty dollars in my pocket…' broke through the silence in the car—very loudly. I had the volume up to 23.

"Sorry," I said lowering it to 16 but leaving the station on. I liked that song.

Obviously Tallie did too, she started dancing and singing along from the back seat. I hoped she didn't know all the words.

"I wear your granddad's clothes, I look incredible," she sang along. "I'm in this big old coat from the thrift shop down the road." Good she'd only heard the cleaned up version. It was time to change the channel.

"Hey I like that song," she said.

"Your mother would kill me if I left this on," I turned around and explained.

"No she wouldn't, we sing along to it in the car all the time."

"Yeah but this is a different version. Trust me, your mother would kill me."

I quickly switched to channel ten and we got some_ Fun_ for her to sing along with. At least it was clean.

I noticed Lester checking the GPS. "Can I help?" I asked so he could just drive and not have to look back and forth so often.

"I think we're close. When I googled directions it told me to take this exit, but the GPS wants to send me further."

"Ignore the GPS. Once I followed mine and it took me onto a two-lane highway. It was dark and people were passing me. I thought someone was going to get into an accident for sure. What did google say?"

"Get off here and…here take the print out and read it to me," he said handing me a couple of printed sheets.

I lead Lester around and we arrived at a cute split-level ranch. It was at the end of a cul-de-sac and pretty much shut off from the houses around it. Good. Less people to notice who came and went, but I bet like any block anywhere, someone knew we didn't actually live here. I hoped Verde Electric wasn't asking them.

It as a five-bedroom house, so everyone got their own room, including Clyde. Once we were unpacked and settled in, Elena volunteered to make lunch for us.

"I brought some fresh pizza dough and homemade mozzarella from Giovichinni's. I thought I would make pizza for everyone."

"Yay," Tallie yelled excitedly, jumping up and down.

Elena had brought along her own pizza stone too, no wonder she was having trouble lifting her suitcase. I wondered what other gadgets she had with her.

She had the stone pre-heating in the oven and Tallie was watching intently as she rolled out the dough, made sauce and cut up the cheese. I would have volunteered to help, but my kitchen skills were non-existent. It was better for everybody if stayed out of the kitchen. Way out of the kitchen.

I was so far out of the kitchen that I was sitting on the enclosed back porch texting with Clyde.

"Should we call Dr. Fishbourne now. It's just 6:00 in London, so we may be able to get him. Otherwise we'll have to wait until Monday morning before you leave for your interview," he texted me.

"Ok. I have him number on my laptop. Let me get it and we'll call."

I went back to my room and grabbed my computer. I turned it on and carried it back to the porch while it booted up.

I had my iPhone with me, but wasn't sure if I could dial internationally with it, so I called the operator from the landline at the house and had the call billed to my home phone.

"Hello. Dr. Fishbourne here," a man's voice answered my call.

"Dr. Fishbourne, this is Stephanie Plum. My fiancé Carlos Manoso was emailing you about the ghost we had in our house?"

"Yes. He sent me the most interesting video and then I never heard back from him."

"He was called overseas on business for a few weeks but Clyde Darby, that's our ghost, and I wanted to follow up with you."

"Your ghost speaks?"

"He can, but speaking uses a lot of energy. He usually texts us."

"Most interesting."

"Let me talk to him," was texted to my iPhone."

"Dr. Fishbourne, Clyde wants to speak to you. I'm going to hold the phone out and hopefully you'll be able to hear him."

"Dr. Fishbourne. This is Clyde. Do you have a cell phone? I'd like to try to text you. I won't be able to talk for much longer."

"Yes. Do you need my cell phone number?"

"No, but I've never tried to text overseas before it may not work. Look for a text from 454-545. I'm sending now. Here's Steph."

I had never heard Clyde issue so many words before; I hoped it didn't zap too much energy.

I saw the text come to my phone, I figured there might be a delay before Dr. Fishbourne got his.

"I can use my energy to speak small sentences and I can gather enough of it for a handshake. What I was hoping to be able to do is to draw enough energy to have some semblance of a body. I'd like to be able to dance with Stephanie at her wedding."

"You want to manifest enough energy to get your physical being back? Is that what you're asking me?" came Dr. Fishbourne's voice over the phone.

"Yes. Is it possible?"

"In all honesty, I don't know. You are the first spirit whose ever been able to communicate with me through actual words. I'm quite impressed with your abilities."

"Thank you doctor. Would you take me on as a client? I can pay you for your services."

"Let me think about it. I don't want to mislead you. I have a colleague in India who has worked with some evolved spirits before. I want to get in touch with him. Would you mind working with the both of us?"

"Not at all."

"Can I call you tomorrow night? Stephanie can you give me the number where I can reach the both of you?"

I gave him the house number and we agreed up a time. I really hoped he'd be able to help Clyde.

"We should have asked him who his colleague was in India so that we could do a little research on him," appeared on my phone once we disconnected from Dr. Fishbourne.

"Here take my laptop, goggle 'parapsychologists in India' and see if anything comes up. I'm going to have some lunch. We can look at your search results after pizza."

"I'll do the search but take the laptop with you. I don't want to sit here by myself," he texted sounding like a petulant child that didn't want to be left alone.

Great, just what I needed. A brooding spirit.

I picked up the laptop and brought it with me into the kitchen. I knew the pizza was almost done because I could smell it. It smelled fabulous…like pizza parlor pizza. I set Clyde up on a small table in the corner and I had my phone out in case he wanted to talk, but I was ready for some serious eating.

The buzzer on the stove rang and Elena took out the pie. She transferred it to a cutting board and put a second one into the oven. She had found a pizza cutter in one of the drawers so I picked it up.

"Let it sit for a few minutes Steph. It's too hot; it's not going to cut. But if you want to help, put some of that chopped basil on top while it cools."

I did as I was told and I heard my computer ding a few times while I was working. Obviously Clyde was having some luck. I really hoped this Indian doctor would be able to help him.

"Elena, do you know anything about metaphysics or parapsychology?" I asked as I held the pizza cutter ready for her next set of instructions.

"Only what I've read, why?"

"Carlos found this guy in London and Clyde and I just called him. He told us he has a colleague in India who's dealt with spirits as evolved as Clyde and he was going to reach out to him. Clyde is brooding because the doctor had never come across anyone like him before. Just wondering what you might know…"

"I found him," Clyde said out loud before I could finish my sentence. "Dr. Sandeep Prasad."


	25. Chapter 25—An Unexpected Encounter

_Blinky, Pinky, Inky and Clyde_

This takes place after "It's a new day, it's a new dawn, it's a new year"

A/N Thank you so much for reading along and for all your wonderful reviews. They really do keep me going. :) Thank you :)

M rating (mostly for language)

**Thank you Margaret** for reading ahead as my Beta. :) I much appreciate :)

Don't own the characters (except for Clyde), just playing :)

**Chapter 25—An Unexpected Encounter**

The rest of the weekend passed without incidence. We did things together as a 'family.' Well a family and their ghost. We took a ride to the old Bridgetender's House built in 1834 that Clyde wanted to see, but it just didn't hold Tallie's interest. She got all clingy and Elena had to carry her. When we got back we rented a couple of movies from iTunes and it seemed like even Lester enjoyed _Finding Nemo_ and _Toy Story_.

I spoke with Hector Sunday night and he was pretty much moved in to his apartment in Bridgewater. I invited him over, but just in case anyone was watching either house he thought it best that we shouldn't be seen together. Elena was putting Tallie to bed, Lester was on his phone in the enclosed back porch and I was sitting in front of the TV with the remote. Nothing appealed to me so I got out my laptop and did some research on that parapsychologist in India. Dr. Sandeep Prasad. I was pretty sure Clyde had gone back to Trenton to visit Joe, so I had uninterrupted research time.

He was currently doing a study on a spirit who perished in the tsunami in India in 2004. He believes that the spirit was able to use the energy that was released from the earth's surface during the tsunami to keep his life force in the present, although his body drowned at sea.

Holy shit. Clyde needed to meet this ghost. He was someone like himself. Hell, Clyde needed to meet Dr. Prasad.

I picked up my phone and sent a text to Clyde. "Just researched Dr. Prasad and you need to see this."

"Are you talking about Rajiv Prakash? The spirit he is currently working with?"

"Yes. He's a little like you."

"I thought so too. I texted Dr. Prasad. Hopefully he'll think my text interesting enough to respond."

"Where are you? At Joe's?"

":)"

"What are you doing?"

":)"

"Clyde!"

"It's ok. Bob's helping me."

As if that made it ok. "Don't you think you've scared him enough? He doesn't even sleep anymore."

No answer. He was definitely up to no good.

I flipped around the remote a few more times and finally settled on _Law & Order: Criminal Intent_.

I woke up when someone lifted up my feet to sit down on the couch next to me. It was Lester.

"Sorry Beautiful. Go back to sleep."

"What time is it Les?"

"It's ten after eleven."

"Oh shit. I should go to bed. I have to get up early to get ready for my interview tomorrow."

xxxxXXXXxxxx

I got up with the alarm at 7:30. The room I was in had it's own adjoining bathroom so I showered, shaved and got ready for my day. Someone had stocked the house pretty well with food, so I knew there were things in the kitchen I could have for breakfast. It's just not like anyone thought to stock up on Boston Crème's from Tasty Pastry, but what was in the refrigerator would do.

I was surprised when I padded out and smelled coffee. I guessed someone else was up. I walked into the kitchen, and _everyone_ was up. Elena was making pancakes for Lester and Tallie and Clyde was somewhere in the room too.

"Good morning," I said brightly. Well probably a little too brightly for _me_ at eight o'clock in the morning and everyone turned to look at me.

"What? It's a beautiful day, the sun is shining and I have an interview."

"Would you like some pancakes?" Elena asked, smacking Lester lightly on the hand with the spatula before he said anything derogatory.

"I don't want to take your breakfast from you. I can always find something in the refrigerator."

"Sit down. I made enough for everyone."

"You don't mind?"

"Of course not. Sit down."

"Oh my God, this is fabulous," I said taking a bite from the stack of blueberry pancakes Elena put in front of me. I guessed I moaned a little because Lester gave me a strange look. Too bad. These were fabulous.

"Do you know where you're going Beautiful?" he asked taking me out of my food orgasm.

"I googled the address and the Cayenne has a GPS. Between the two I should be good."

"Don't you want to take _the BMW_? You supposedly work for BMW and Cal and Ram dropped one off for you this morning."

"They did?" I asked, getting up to look at the circular driveway out front. Sure enough there was a BMW convertible behind the Cayenne.

"Does it have a GPS?"

"I don't know, but I'm sure it's Rangeman equipped."

That meant it had trackers everywhere and a gun under the driver's seat. GPS was optional.

"I took the Garmin from my POS. I'll be fine—I'll drive the BMW," I said practically salivating and ready to go outside to take it for a spin.

"You need to leave in fifteen minutes. Are you ok?"

"Lester, what's with you? Of course I'm fine."

"Text me after your interview ok?" he asked taking me in for a hug and an uncustomary kiss to the top of my head. "You'll do just fine."

Jesus.

I went back into the bathroom, brushed my teeth and reapplied my lipstick. I was ready to go.

Les gave me the keys and I went out to the beemer. He followed me out and gave me the two-second indoctrination. Put the keyfob in the ignition, with your foot on the brake press the start/stop bottom and you're good to go.

I did as I was told and took off for Verde Electric.

It felt odd that Clyde didn't give me a sendoff and I was feeling bad about it when I sensed him in the car with me. I quickly popped my iPhone into the jack on the dash so I could do hands free reading and drive at the same time.

"Thank you," I whispered to him.

"I wasn't going to let you go by yourself."

"Thank you. Did you talk to Hector this morning?"

"Yeah. He said he's taking a bus to the interview. "

"The bus? What's wrong with him?"

"He wanted to come off as a total IT geek."

"Oh God. For that alone he should get the job."

"Don't read, drive. If I have something else to say, I'll talk to you. I need the practice."

"Did you hear back from that parapsychologist in India?"

"Yes. He wants to come to New Jersey to meet me. And you."

"Did he make contact with Dr. Fishbourne?"

"I don't know. I texted him back, but I haven't heard anything further. There's a ten and a half hour time difference between India and here. It's 7:30 at night there now."

"Clyde? Do you realize what you just said?"

"Yeah I told you why I think I haven't heard from him."

"That was a few sentences. I think that was the most I ever heard you speak. Did it drain you? Are you ok?"

"I'm fine. I think my mental communications with Tallie and Bob have helped me. I can talk longer. And look, take my hand."

I reached over to where I thought his hand might be and he took it in his. He squeezed tight and just held it.

"Wow. You really are getting stronger."

"I wonder if that spirit in India can do this?"

Oh boy, I helped create a _competitive_ monster.

"I think _you're_ unique and I think _he's_ unique. Wonder if Dr. Prasad plans to bring him with along to meet you?"

"Us. He's coming to meet _us_."

"It's really you he wants to meet. I'll be there for moral support though. When did he say he plans on coming?"

"He didn't. I think he wanted to talk to Dr. Fishbourne first. I hope they don't turn me into a spectacle for the scientific community."

"I won't let them Clyde. Relax." "I think we're here. Are you coming to my interview with me?"

"Do you mind?"

"No. But please don't talk during the interview. Rangeman wants me to get this job."

"I understand. If I have anything to say, I'll text you."

"Smart ass."

I walked, well _we walked_ into the reception area and Hector was seated in one of the chairs reading _Geek Magazine_. Too perfect. I wished I could take a picture and share it with Tank, Les and Bobby. I introduced myself to the receptionist and she told me to sit in the waiting area where Hector was.

After making myself comfortable I looked over at Hector. "Good morning," I said, pretending to make conversation with a stranger. "You been here long?"

"I'm early. My appointment is for eleven."

"Sorry. Mine is for ten. You really _are_ early."

"I took the bus. Don't let me bother you, I'll just sit in the corner and read." I watched him pull his phone out of his pocket and start typing away. I had a feeling he and Clyde were talking.

I took my iPhone out of my bag to see if they wanted me to join the conversation when Tamica Jones came out to get me. Guessed socializing would have to wait.

"Good morning Ms. Pardo. Thank you for coming out to Verde Electric today. Let's grab one of these conference rooms," she said leading me down a hall, opening a door to a small office and turning on a light.

"I've gone over your resume," she continued once we settled in, "And I must say, I'm thoroughly impressed. May I ask why you'd want to leave BMW?"

"The trip is an hour each way and with a three-year old in daycare I'm looking for a shorter commute."

"I see you've been with them for seven years. I took the liberty of calling them this morning. You have a stellar work history. I was very impressed. If we were to offer you this job, when would you be able to start?"

"I've already found my replacement, and spent the last couple of weeks training her. I'm sure Mrs. Quincy at BMW told you that I resigned two weeks ago. I'm free to start whenever you need me to."

"Can you start tomorrow?"

"I'll just need to make some arrangements to have my mother-in-law stay with us for a few more days, but I don't think that will be a problem."

"Good. I'm happy to have you onboard then. We'll just need to set you up with a photo ID and I'll need proof that you can work legally in the United States. A passport will do."

"I have that with me," I told her taking it out of my bag for her inspection. Hal did a great forgery job on this one.

"Perfect. I'll just need to make a copy. Do you want to follow me to my office? I can take a picture for your ID and laminate it while you're filling out the W2 for me."

"Sounds good," I said getting up and following her down the hall. This went smoother than I expected.

I was done with the photo and all the paperwork in under fifteen minutes. Mrs. Jones returned my passport to me along with my new ID. We shook hands and I told her I'd see her tomorrow morning at nine. I'd never had such an easy interview before. When I got back to reception I noticed Hector was no longer sitting in the waiting area. Guessed it was his turn. I still couldn't believe he took a bus this morning.

I walked back to my car and sensed Clyde with me. I didn't want to talk to him until I was safely out of the parking lot. I wouldn't want anybody to see me and think I talked to myself.

"Congratulations," he said once we were in the car. "That went well."

"Thank you. I better be _stellar_ at my job tomorrow. Couldn't Tank have had someone say that I just _did_ my job?"

"You'll be fine. It's customer service. You have a natural gift for gab."

I was back home in fifteen minutes. My kind of commute, well, if I had to do this.

Lester was standing at the front door watching me park. Thank God I didn't have to do a parallel number; I would have fucked that one up for sure. I turned off the car, grabbed my bag and walked over to see what he wanted.

"You didn't text me," he said sounding pissed.

"What?"

"I asked you to text me after your interview and I never heard from you."

"I'm sorry Les. I'm here now. It went well, I start tomorrow."

"So does Hector. At least _he_ had the courtesy to text me after his interview."

"I said I'm sorry Les, I had other things on my mind."

"It's ok Beautiful. I was just starting to get worried when I heard from Hector before I heard from you. Want to go out to celebrate? I'll take you out to lunch. I have a couple of things I want to share with you anyway."

"Ok. Your mom and Tallie too? Or just us?"

"Just us."

I changed out of my interview clothes and Les and I went to a little Trattoria in Somerville. It was before noon when we got there and not crowded at all so we got a table in the rear so Les could have his back to the wall. We both ordered fettuccini alfredo and a salad and I hoped he'd tell me whatever news it was he wanted to tell me while we were waiting for our lunch to arrive.

"Cal and Ram went over to your house this morning to watch the demolition. John brought in that guy Mike that he told us about. Well he and a second plumber have pretty much disassembled your boiler already."

"That was fast. Jimmy said it would take weeks."

"I guess these guys know what they're doing. Just so you know, Mike wasn't aware that Jimmy was a convicted sex offender either."

"Uh oh. Wasn't John supposed to disclose that to clients _and_ employees?"

"Yep. Want to pull the job?"

"I'm not sure. Carlos must have checked them out before hiring them? He must have liked what he saw and if they've already dismantled the boiler, they are doing a good job. What do you think Les?"

"I think something is fishy, but if you want to keep them on I want to investigate them a little deeper. And I'd like to keep a team at the house while any work is being done."

"Agreed."

Our food arrived just then and we changed the topic of our conversation. After all, talking about convicted sex offenders wasn't exactly the best lunchtime conversation.

xxxxXXXXxxxx

I left the house at eight-thirty Tuesday morning for my first day of work. As I was driving along, I sensed Clyde in the car with me. Wished I knew how he did that.

"Sorry I'm late. We had some time with Joe last night. He went off on a rampage about being sleep deprived and how I, well he calls me Uncle Sal, had just better stop with this shit. He said he's had enough. Bob and I couldn't stop laughing."

"You didn't hurt him, did you?"

"No lasting harm. We just took all his shoes out of the closet and lined them up in front of his bed, and oops, he just happened to trip over them in the dark when his alarm went off this morning and he stubbed his big toe."

"Ouch. Don't you think you've haunted him enough? Maybe it's time to move on to say, uh, John Bucci? I want to know why he didn't tell me, or Mike, about his brother. And now I'm seriously doubting that he even told Carlos."

"I'll put him on the list. I want to have a little fun with Vito Grizzolli next."

It wasn't a long ride to Verde Electric, so we arrived as he was telling me about Vito. I just shrugged. He was enjoying this way too much. I scanned my brand new ID at the front door and it granted me entrance. I stepped into the reception area and said hello to the receptionist from yesterday. Then it hit me; I didn't know where to go.

"Um, hi," I said to the receptionist, "um, Tamica didn't tell me know where I'm going to be sitting; is she in yet?"

"Hold on a minute, I'll call her."

I was standing in front of her desk waiting patiently, when I heard a voice I recognized behind me.

"Stephanie _Plum_? What are _you_ doing here?" I turned around and was face-to-face with Terry Gilman.

Oh shit.

xxxxXXXXxxxx

A/N **I want to thank trhodes9** for her suggestion about Terry. Much appreciated :). More very soon, I promise. Sorry about the cliffie.


	26. Chapter 26—Breaking Down Barriers

_Blinky, Pinky, Inky and Clyde_

This takes place after "It's a new day, it's a new dawn, it's a new year"

A/N Thank you so much for reading along and for all your wonderful reviews. They really do keep me going. :) Thank you :)

M rating (mostly for language)

**Thank you Margaret** for reading ahead as my Beta. :) I much appreciate :) **I also want to thank trhodes9** for her Terry suggestions. Again, much appreciated :).

Don't own the characters (except for Clyde), just playing :)

**Chapter 26—Breaking down Barriers**

"Oh hi Terry," I said all friendly-like hoping to catch her off guard.

"Not going to work Steph. Tamica shares all new hires with me and she sent your ID photo along with your resume and hiring papers to me last night. What the fuck are you up to?"

I could lie and tell her I married Marc Pardo and that I just took a job here, but I was certain she'd read my bogus resume. She knew I hadn't worked at BMW for the last seven years. She was from the 'Burg; she knew everything about me.

"I'm doing a job for Rangeman," I answered honestly instead.

"Not anymore you're not. Come with me Steph," she said beckoning me to follow her back out the front door.

I could resist, knock her down and run for it, but I had a feeling a couple of Grizzolli goons were waiting outside. I didn't want to run into a trap. If I could stall I was pretty sure Clyde would contact Les and someone would come to my rescue.

"Let's talk Terry," I said motioning her to the waiting area by the receptionist. I didn't want to leave the building and talking was as good of a stall tactic as anything.

"Stephanie Plum, you are so naive sometimes. Do you know who I am?"

"Of course I do. You're Teresa Grizzolli. You were married to Jack Gilman for a nanosecond and you took his name; so now you go by Teresa Gilman. Terry for short," I told her, giving back the history that I knew she already knew. Of course she knew it, it was her life, but like I said, I was stalling.

"Come on, let's go for a ride. I want you to meet some people."

"I don't think that's a good idea," I said and she flashed me the darkest, ugliest hate look I had ever seen.

Maybe it would be better to be around other people after all. I purposely wore the earrings Carlos gave me for Christmas. The trackers in them still worked and as soon as Rangeman saw my personal trackers were in a different place than my car's they'd come looking for me. And I hoped Clyde had the presence of mind to stay with me.

Terry turned me around and pushed me towards the front door. There were two goons right outside who grabbed me hard and threw me around a little before taking away my bag, cuffing me and bringing me over to a waiting Mercedes.

Terry got in front with the driver and I was sandwiched between the two goons in the back. I sensed Clyde in the car and I felt better. Suddenly I felt him talking to me. It was a strange sensation; the words just appeared in my head. I relaxed and let him talk.

"Don't panic. I overheard the driver talking on his cell phone. They are taking you to the Grizzolli compound. Vito wants to talk to you. I contacted Les and Tank and Hector just hacked all the company's data and sent it back to Rangeman and the feds. That should be enough for the FBI who are planning on storming the compound with warrants within the hour. Just stay calm. I'm with you, I won't let them harm you."

"Ok," I said and both goons turned and looked at me. "Sorry, I was giving myself a pep-talk."

Half an hour later I felt the car slow down, turn and pull to a stop at a gated estate. The driver fobbed open the gates and we passed through. We drove up a steep hill to the first of several large houses where the car came to rest, but left its engine running. Oh my God, they weren't going to run me over, were they?

Goon 'A' grabbed me by the arm and yanked me out of the car. The sudden motion caused the cuffs to dig into my wrists and I whimpered a bit.

"Oh little miss beautiful got hurt," he said mockingly. "I'm sure you'll be feeling a lot worse pain than that before the day is up."

"Clyde," I said in my head, wondering if he could hear my thoughts.

Goon 'B' came over and took my other arm and they roughly jostled me up the stairs to the front door.

"I'm right here with you Steph. The FBI left the Newark field office about twenty minutes ago. They are about a half an hour away. Stall Vito if you can."

"Ok," I said again to Clyde, then added "you don't have to treat me so rough, I'm not going anywhere."

The door opened just as we got up the last step and we were ushered inside by yet another goon. I wasn't sure where Terry disappeared to, but she wasn't behind me. Maybe she was still in the car. The goons on my arms didn't let up and pushed me forward into an elevator. We took the elevator up one flight and they tugged me out and joggled me to an open door. They sat me down into one of the large upholstered leather chairs and I was face-to-face with Vito Grizzolli.

"So Miss Stephanie Plum," he said, taking me in.

I didn't feel like I had to answer him, so I said nothing.

"And you thought you were going to get away with this?"

Again, I didn't respond. I needed to come up with a way to stall him, so if I kept quiet maybe he would keep asking questions until I found one I wanted to answer.

"Who put you up to this little charade?"

"I was doing a job for Rangeman."

"A job where you pretended to be someone that you're not? What kind of a _job_ is that?"

"A job that will help me pay my bills."

"I don't think you need to worry about paying your bills anymore. I've heard you and the mighty Manoso are getting married."

"I still have my apartment. I don't ask him for any help."

"You're a foolish girl, do you know that?"

I went silent again.

"You've been used and manipulated by a number of men in Trenton and you just laugh it off good naturedly. What the fuck is wrong with you?"

"If you're talking about Joe Morelli, then you are fucking right. He was using me so he could run around screwing your niece. All eyes were on Stephanie. The 'Burg couldn't wait to hear about the next fiasco I was involved in. So much so that it took all the pressure off _Mr._ _Vice Squad Detective_ fucking your mafia princess."

I thought he was going to leap over his desk and strangle me, but he didn't.

"You have balls Ms. Plum. I admire a woman with balls."

Again I went into silent mode.

"Too bad having balls won't do you any good if you're not alive to use them."

I wanted to hear what else he had to say before I said or did anything.

"What did you think of Sal and Anthony?"

"Who?"

"Your two chaperones. Want me to leave you alone with them for an hour? I'd love to hear what you have to say after your time with them is up. If you can still speak that is."

"Not much."

"Excuse me?"

"I didn't think very much of them. Dumb and dumber."

"My God Miss Plum, you just keep digging yourself deeper and deeper into that hole. Pretty soon your boyfriend's crew and their fancy devices won't even be _able_ to find your body."

"They'll find me."

"You're pretty sure of yourself, aren't you?"

I didn't have time to respond because he picked up the phone that was on his desk and was about to place a call. I felt Clyde mentally trying to get into my head so I relaxed as much as I could to hear what he had to say.

"Ignore me. I'm not here. You don't hear me or sense me."

I got it.

At the same time I was getting his mental message I heard him speak and I felt his hand on my shoulder calming me.

"Vito, Vito, Vito. What the fuck do you think you're doing trying to end an innocent's life?" he said with a slight Brooklyn accent.

"Who said that?" he responded, looking around and putting the phone back in it's cradle.

"Don't you recognize your own brother? It's Enzo."

"Did you hear that?" Vito asked me, looking around nervously.

"Hear what?" I replied innocently.

"You took my life, but I'm not going to let you take her's or that innocent child's that she's carrying."

"Your pregnant?" Vito looked at me and blurted out.

"What? Where did you get that from?"

"Can't you hear him?"

"No. I just hear you talking to yourself. What made you think I was pregnant?"

"He told me you were?"

"Who is _he_?"

"My brother."

"There's no one here, Vito. Just you and me," I told him, starting to enjoy the show. He looked like he was about to lose his lunch. Great payback Clyde.

"I can see things," the ghostly voice started in again. "Even though she may not know it yet, I can see the child she's carrying. You wouldn't want to be responsible for ending a baby's life now would you? One more thing on your conscience; that is if you even have one."

"What are you talking about Enzo?"

"You got rid of me and Uncle Ambrosio, but I'm not letting you do it again." Suddenly Vito was punched in the face with enough force to throw him back in his chair."

I feigned surprise. "Wha-wha-what the fuck. Wh-wh-who hit you?"

Vito was reaching for his phone again but Clyde pulled it out of the wall. That was when I heard the sirens outside. The feds had arrived. Thank God. Within minutes the door to Vito's office flew open and Tank, Bobby and Lester stood there, armed to the teeth. Vito tried to get away out the side door, but when he opened it, Ram and Cal were standing there, equally armed. He panicked and pulled a gun out of his desk drawer. He grabbed me by the hair and put the gun to my head.

"You let me out of here right now, or I'm going to kill her."

I knew the guys would never let him hurt me if it was at all humanly possible, so instead of feeling frightened, I felt brave. Maybe too brave.

"You heard what your brother said, Vito. You don't want to be responsible for taking any more lives."

He pulled my hair harder and jabbed the gun into my head.

"Shut the fuck up. Both of you, just shut the fuck up." He looked over to Tank, Bobby and Les, then his eyes shifted to Cal and Ram. Suddenly a shot was fired through the window behind him, hitting him in the neck, I thought he was going to pull the trigger, but instead he dropped his hold on me and his gun hand flew to his own head. This time he pulled the trigger.

Shit.

Within seconds Bobby had his arms around me. "Are you ok Steph? Did he hurt you?"

"I'm ok, just surprised I'm still alive. What idiot shot him through the window when he had a gun to my head?"

"Feds probably. It wasn't us. Except for the five of us, no Rangeman is near enough to shoot. We've been watching the perimeter," Tank answered.

"She's pregnant Bobby," Les told him. "At least I still hope so."

"Jesus, why does everyone think I'm pregnant?" I interjected.

"Because you are," Clyde said definitively.

The room was suddenly filled with Feds. Lots and lots of Feds. One of them was taking Vito's pulse. He looked up and shook his head and another produced a body bag.

I felt the room begin to spin. "Bobby I'm going to be sick."

"No you're not Steph. Sit down and put your head between your legs."

I did as he asked. Then he put his hand to the back of my head and asked me to press up on it. When I did, the little black dots stopped. Thank God.

"Let's get out of here and let the Feds do their thing," Bobby said, helping me up. "I'd like to have a doctor look at you Steph."

"No doctor."

"Clyde says you're pregnant. I'd like to confirm it and get you some prenatal care if you are."

"Clyde's got a big mouth."

"My big mouth saved your life," I heard from somewhere nearby.

It was true. If he didn't pretend to be Vito's brother, I'd have become a plaything for the goons.

"I'm sorry Clyde. Thank you."

"Let's get out of here while we still can," Tank repeated Bobby's earlier idea. "Can you walk Steph?"

"I'm fine. Let's go."

We snuck out amid the confusion of the Feds rounding up and cuffing all occupants of the house. If we didn't get out now, I'd be brought in for questioning.

When I was safely buckled in the back of one of the Rangeman SUVs, Tank got into the driver's seat and Bobby got in next to him. I sensed Clyde next to me and I reached out to take his hand.

"Thanks, Clyde. But I have a question for you. How did you know about Enzo and Uncle Ambrosio?"

"You taught me how to google and I made some assumptions."

Yep. He definitely _should_ be made a Rangeman.

"I notice you're speaking more and more Clyde," Bobby said from the front seat.

"I guess the more I use my voice the stronger it gets. And I noticed I can plant my thoughts right into your head too. I think I've made texting obsolete," he spoke partially and the other part I just 'heard.'

"Lester told me you made contact with both the doctor from the UK and the one from India. Did you learn anything useful?" Bobby continued.

"Dr. Prasad wants to come to New Jersey to meet me. He's been working with a spirit in India with similar abilities to mine," he said, then elaborated on Rajiv and his story. "I hope he brings him with him," he added.

"Steph, if you won't see a doctor will you come to my office?" Bobby asked as Tank fobbed us into Rangeman's underground garage.

"I want to take some blood to see if we can confirm that pregnancy. I'd also like to look you over for bumps and bruises. Clyde said Grizzolli's goons were pretty rough with you. Ranger would kill me if anything happened to you because I didn't make sure you were ok."

I knew he was right and that was the only reason I agreed to follow him to his infirmary.

He drew some blood and had me strip to my underwear. Bobby's pretty much seen most of me before in one way or another, so I wasn't feeling particularly self-conscious about showing him my skin. I had a large contusion on my hip from where I hit the car door, it was just on top of the scrape from my encounter with Jimmy and Bobby had to bite his tongue to keep from cursing when he saw it. In addition, my both wrists were bruised and swollen, and I had a black and blue mark on my temple from Vito pressing the gun into me. Bobby treated the contusion and my bruised wrists, bandaged me up and told me he'd have the blood-test results in the morning.

I got dressed and suddenly felt exhausted.

"Eat something Steph," he said, looking over at me. "If you come with me to my apartment, I can make us some grilled cheese sandwiches. You need to up your protein after an adrenaline spike like you had."

I nodded in agreement as it was something Carlos had told me before. I could have told him I'd just go upstairs and call Ella, but I knew this was her busy time preparing lunch for the guys, so I agreed to that grilled cheese sandwich.

I'd never been in Bobby's apartment before and I was kind of surprised that it was decorated so interestingly. He had a few colorful blankets on the wall and some samurai swords displayed under glass cases.

"I love your art Bobby."

"Thanks. I've picked it all up in my travels. I was surprised how well it went together. Makes me look like a world traveller, although most if it I got courtesy of Uncle Sam."

"You were stationed in Japan?" I asked nodding to the swords.

"Those are Iranian swords. Any special cheese you'd like?" he asked changing the subject.

"Whatever you have is fine."

"Cheddar?"

"I love cheddar."

Bobby put together a sandwich for me and another one for him. Then he melted them under a sandwich press that was on his kitchen counter. I guessed he was watching his fat intake too. I would have grilled them in a frying pan with lots of butter.

He took milk out of his refrigerator and poured me a glass. He had bottled water.

"Do you want to talk about anything?" he asked sitting across from me at the breakfast bar.

"Nope. I'm good."

"Stephanie, does Ranger know about the baby?"

"Um no. Clyde and I spoke about it and he thinks I conceived the day Carlos was asked to go into the wind again. We kind of did it a lot," I mumbled under my breath as an afterthought.

"Aren't you on the pill and wasn't Ranger using protection because you were afraid of transmitting the STD?"

"Technically yes."

"Technically?"

"I kind of forgot to take a pill a few times, but I wasn't worried because I knew he always used condoms."

"Well?"

"Well what?"

"Stephanie. I'm a medical professional. You can talk to me. Babies don't make themselves and I'm trying to figure out what happened."

"We had sex in the Cayenne and Carlos used a condom that came from the first aid kit. It wasn't his usual brand and maybe it broke."

"Ranger would have known if it broke. Is it ok if I ask someone to go down to the car and bring up the first aid kit? Were there more than one?"

"There were a few. And as long as you ask them to bring up the _whole_ kit, I guess I'm ok with it."

Bobby called down to reception and relayed his request. A few minutes later, someone knocked on his door with the first aid kit.

Bobby brought it back to me so we could look at it together.

"Steph, this kit is hot, where was it kept?"

"In the back cargo area."

"If it was over the exhaust, I have an idea of what might have happened. Let me take one of these condoms out and look at it."

"Oh my God," I said, hiding my face with my hand. Bobby wasn't really going to open a condom in front of me? Obviously he was.

He took one out of the first aid kit and he tore the package open. He took the condom out and brought it over to the light to look at it better. He then went to the kitchen and filled it with water. He came back to me and showed me how the water was weeping out of the sides of the condom. It was barely noticeable but it was wet.

"I think the heat from the exhaust broke down the latex. At least we know what happened. Had you been taking your pills regularly, it probably would have been ok. A week on the antibiotics should have knocked out the STD. Unfortunately it couldn't do much for active sperm."

"Do you think Carlos will be angry with me?"

"He loves you. I'm pretty sure he'll be accepting of whatever happened. I'm sure he's thought about children with you or he wouldn't have asked you to marry him. It may be a shock, but I think it will turn out ok."

"If you say so Bobby," I said, still not quite believing anything.


	27. Chapter 27—Eat Prey Love

_Blinky, Pinky, Inky and Clyde_

This takes place after "It's a new day, it's a new dawn, it's a new year"

A/N Thank you so much for reading along and for all your wonderful reviews. They really do keep me going. :) Thank you :)

M rating (mostly for language)

**Thank you Margaret** for reading ahead as my Beta. :) I much appreciate :) **I also want to thank trhodes9** for her Terry suggestions. Again, much appreciated :).

Don't own the characters (except for Clyde), just playing :)

**Chapter 27—Eat Prey Love**

Suddenly I was aware that Clyde had joined us in Bobby's apartment.

"Hi Steph, Bobby," I heard in my head.

"Hey Clyde. Where were you?"

"I went back to the Grizzolli estate for a while. I wanted to see if there was anything the feds missed."

"And?" I asked.

"Well they didn't pick up Terry and I half-expected her to go back to the compound, but she never showed up. And neither has your bag Steph. I'm pretty sure it was in the car with her and the driver she had earlier. Didn't you have your phone and a gun in there?"

"My phone yes. I never brought my gun to Franklin Township."

Bobby turned and stared at me. I guessed he was thinking how could I not be armed. Easy for him to think, he probably wore a gun to bed. I'd rather not touch the darn thing if I had any choice in the matter. And besides, I had Les with me at the house. He and his gun were attached at the hip.

"Don't you think we should have Hector deactivate your phone? There are some proprietary apps on it and most of Rangeman's personal phone numbers. I wouldn't want that phone falling into the wrong hands," Bobby said instead of anything about the gun.

"Oh shit. I didn't think of that. Do you know if Hector's back yet, or is he still playing IT guy?"

"The feds were going to raid the call center after they got done with the compound, so my guess is that Hector split. Let's call downstairs and see if he's back," Bobby said, getting up and going over to his landline.

He asked reception for Hector and a few seconds later Hector picked up. Bobby put the phone on speaker so we could all hear.

"Hector. It's Bobby. Sorry, I wasn't sure if you were back so the easiest way to find out was to call reception. Can you deactivate Steph's phone? It seems that it's with Terry and I'd hate for her to get her hands on anything important."

"Sí. I can do it from here. And I'll install all her apps and numbers from the backup onto a new phone. Where are you?"

"We're in my apartment. Steph needed a little TLC."

"Is she ok?"

"She'll be fine. She's still a little shaken up. Stop by when you have that phone for her." And he ended his call.

"Steph, I have to go back to work shortly, but you and Clyde are welcome to stay here. And why don't you have dinner with me tonight? I'll cook."

"I don't want to be a burden, Bobby. I'll be ok by myself."

"You are _not _a burden. I'll even make dessert."

"You'll make _dessert_? Isn't that a corporate no-no?"

"It's a Ranger no-no, but in my apartment I can have whatever I want. And I think I have all the ingredients for chocolate brownies. You up for that?"

"Really Bobby? You'd make them for me?"

"Well it's for me too, but hell yeah. We need a little fun."

"Ok. I'll stay for dinner. What time will you be back?"

"I'll leave early today. I can be up around five and we can make dinner together."

Doesn't he know? "Uh, Bobby, you know I can't cook, right."

"So you say. I guarantee you won't have to do anything other than chop. We can make the brownies first."

"A man after my own heart. Dessert first."

"Well, I didn't say we'd _eat _it first. Why don't you watch TV or take a nap? The sooner I go back down, the sooner I'll be up."

"Are you sure you want me to stay?"

"Yes. I'll see you in a few hours. Let Hector in with your new phone."

With that Bobby left and I made myself at home on his couch. Well, Clyde and I made ourselves at home.

_**Bobby's POV**_

I knew the horrible eating habits that Stephanie had. She could devour six Boston Crème donuts for breakfast, then have fried chicken and French fries for lunch, who knew what for dinner and then polish off half of a pineapple upside down cake. I had no idea how she stayed as thin as she did. But if indeed she were pregnant, as Clyde insisted, her diet would have to change. The correlation between a poor diet during pregnancy and neural-tube defects were all over the medical journals I read. The stats were something like a good quality prenatal diet could cut out brain defects by 40%, spina bifida by 20% and babies born with a cleft palate by 30%. Stephanie was not going to continue her poor food choices on my watch. And as far as I was concerned, it was going to start today.

When I got back to my desk I'd call the lab and have them rush through her blood work. The sooner we knew for sure the better. And in the meantime I could research prenatal care and a good diet until we got her hooked up with one of the top obstetricians. And if I had to cook for her myself, I would.

"Clyde," I said mentally, hoping he could pick up on it.

"Yes?"

Thank God, I didn't want to talk out loud in front of Steph.

"Can you stay with Steph? I want to go up to my computer and do a little research. She eats so poorly and I'd hate for anything to happen to that baby."

"Of course, you didn't have to ask. Is there anything I can do? I'm a pretty good googlier."

"No. Not yet anyway. Just stay with her. I'll be back as soon as I can."

"No problem."

I left them alone on my couch in front of the TV and I went upstairs to my office. The first thing I did was call the lab. I sent the blood sample over almost two hours ago, so if they hadn't gotten to it already, maybe they could do it while I stayed on the line.

"Dez, it's Bobby from Rangeman. I sent over some blood work a few hours ago, do you know if Jared got to it yet?"

"Let me check. Hold on."

Desiree was a good lab technician and a friend. I'd seen her socially a few times and I knew she'd go out of her way to move the vial of blood to the front of Jared's inbox. Hell, she'd probably put it in his hand if she thought it meant I'd ask her out again. I didn't want to get too close to anyone, but she was attractive, smart and a member of the medical profession, so it wasn't as if we had nothing to talk about on our dates. I'd probably call her if she came through for me.

"Bobby?" she came back on the line. "I see you're asking us to run a pregnancy serum test on this sample. Since when do you have women at Rangeman?"

"It's for Stephanie, Ranger's fiancé."

"Oh. One minute, I'll do the serum test myself. I'll call you right back."

That was quick.

Five minutes later I got a call back from Dez.

"Her hCG levels are up to 112 mil per unit, normal is around 12. I'd say she's about a week and a half pregnant. The levels increase about 60% every two days early on. Do you want me to send you the report?"

"Thanks Dez. Yes, fax me that report so I can add it to her file. Are you busy Friday night?"

"I was going to go out with my sister, but I'd change my plans for you."

"Dinner? I can pick you up around 6:30?"

"Thank you. That would be nice. I'll send the report right over. See you Friday."

Nothing like mixing a little business and pleasure in the same call.

Well, that was pretty much a confirmation. From what I'd read, hCG levels below 5 were definitely not pregnant but anything above 25 was considered a viable pregnancy. Looked like about nine months from now we'd have a Rangebaby on the premises.

I took the rest of the afternoon to look up prenatal diets and from my research one high in whole grains, fruits and vegetables was the best. Of course protein was necessary but everyone seemed to suggest avoiding excessive amounts of sugar and fat. This was going to be a hard sell.

Maybe I'd make whole grain pasta with seared and roasted chicken breasts and a side of broccoli for dinner. At least I knew Steph liked pasta and tomatoes and broccoli would be good for her. And I could sneak nuts, whole grains and yogurt into the brownies. Dark chocolate and cocoa hide everything.

I got out my phone to text Clyde. I didn't think his esp thing would work a couple of floors away.

"Hey you son of a bitch," I texted him, "you were one hundred percent right. We're going to have a little Rangebaby in about nine months."

"Told you so," got texted back to me. "I'll let _you_ tell Steph. I've already told her and she doesn't believe me."

"We have to get her eating better. Can you work with me on that too?"

"You bet. You're going to have to hide the Tasty Kakes though."

"Those are so bad for her. All fat and artificial ingredients. Listen, I'll be up in about 45 minutes. I'll see you later."

"No. I'll see you later. You won't see me," got texted back to my phone after a few seconds. Smart ass ghost.

I texted Tank and Les to let them know the results of the blood test. Cal and Ram were also in Vito's office when Les told us that Steph was pregnant, but I didn't feel obligated to confirm it with them. Tank and Santos were a different story.

"Can I let Hal know?" a text from Lester asked.

"I only confirmed it with you and Tank. It's up to Stephanie and Ranger if they want to tell anyone else. I'd keep it under wraps for now."

"Cal already told Hal. He can't wait to be an uncle."

"Oh shit. This is not going to go well. Please don't say _anything_. _I'll_ talk to Cal and Ram."

After I checked the rotation schedule, I closed down my computer. Cal and Ram were both off-duty. I'd call them later. I went outside to pick up some chicken and broccoli from the organic grocery down the street. I had everything else on hand.

When I got back to my apartment, Steph was asleep on my couch and the Ellen DeGeneres Show was blaring from the TV. How could she sleep with that on? I walked over and lowered it and I guessed the sudden change in volume woke her up.

"Wha?"

"It's ok Steph, you can go back to sleep. I just wanted to lower the TV."

"What time is it?"

"It's almost five."

"I'll get up. I promised to help you make brownies," she said and her eyes lit up. I was pretty sure she didn't know what usually went in them and my substitution of yogurt for most of the butter probably would go unnoticed.

I had found a low-fat healthy alternative online once when I was craving chocolate and just needed to google the recipe again. I had my iPad in the kitchen with me when she padded in from the bathroom.

I measured out some walnuts and gave them to her to chop while I mixed together the other ingredients and melted the chocolate over a dilapidated double boiler I somehow owned.

I added the melted chocolate to the batter. Then I sprayed a baking pan with cooking spray and folded it in, adding the nuts she chopped to the top. The whole thing went into the oven for 22 minutes.

She was looking at me like something was wrong.

"What?" I asked.

"Where did you learn to do that?"

"Do what? I just followed a recipe. It was easy and as long as we don't overcook it, they should be pretty good. I've made them before."

"You and my mother. Jeez. I'll never get the hang of that stuff. But then again, I guess I won't have to. Carlos has Ella."

"Steph, I got the results of your blood test," I told her, getting serious and changing he subject.

"And? Was Clyde right?"

"Clyde was right. Dez at the lab told me that by your numbers you're probably about a week and a half along."

"Does anyone else know?"

"I only told Tank and Santos and they both seemed to have heard the news before.

"Can we keep this a secret until Carlos gets back. I'd rather he hear before all of you merry men."

"Merry men Steph?"

"Sorry. That's kind of my name for you guys. You know Robin Hood and his merry men? Take from the rich; give to the poor. Somehow I thought it fit. I guess that was before I knew you guys so well."

"We don't take from the rich, but I see where you're coming from. Shall we make dinner?"

She seemed agreeable so I put together a quick fresh pasta sauce with the plum tomatoes I had ripening. I had some quinoa and corn pasta in my pantry and I thought that would fit the whole grain bill so I brought it out. I never thought Steph would pick up the package and look at it. Shit.

"Bobby what is this? My mom uses Barilla or DeCecco's. I've never seen this brand before?"

"I got it in the whole foods market. I thought it would be better for you."

"I'm not into better, I'm into tastes good."

"It tastes good and I wasn't going to have this conversation with you tonight, but you really need to take a look a your diet if you want to have a healthy baby."

"You're going to make me give up my Tasty Kakes and donuts right?"

"Stephanie, you want a healthy baby, don't you?"

"Jesus. I'm just trying to come to terms with the fact that I'm even _having_ a baby." She paused before she spoke again. "Bobby, I can't do this."

"Can't do what?" I asked her, hoping she wasn't going to decide to abort the baby before her and Ranger even had a chance to talk about it.

"I can't just turn my life around in one fell swoop. I need to take baby steps. I can't give up everything I love just because I'm pregnant. Can't I just cut back?"

I could see she was in turmoil. I didn't want to be the ogre under the bridge so I backed off for now.

"I think that's fair. If you could cut back on your sugar and fat intake, I don't see why you need to give it up entirely. But you do need to add more vegetables and fruits into your diet. How about give up one, add one?"

"Give up one, like either no donuts or no Tasty Kakes?"

"I was thinking one less donut or one less Tasty Kake and replace that with a serving of fruit or a vegetable."

"Oh, I'm supposed to walk around with a broccoli in my hand?" she said, taking the broccoli off the table for emphasis. "And when I get a donut urge, eat broccoli instead?"

"Stephanie, you're over reacting. You could carry around some fruit with you though. It wouldn't be the end of the world for people to see you eating an apple instead of a bag of donuts."

"Can I think about this? I'll eat your _healthy_ dinner tonight, but tomorrow I'm having what _I _want. I can't be railroaded Bobby."

"Ok, ok. We'll replace the pasta with some DeCecco's I have in the pantry, but you don't know what you're missing. This really tastes good."

"I'm not ready to try it right now. And I saw you put yogurt into the brownies. I know what you're trying to do."

I guessed I'd learned to pick up on Clyde's presence too, and I could sense he was back in my apartment. I hoped he'd side with me. Unfortunately that was not what I heard in my head.

"Terry and her driver just picked up Joe at his house."


	28. Chapter 28 — The Turn Around

_Blinky, Pinky, Inky and Clyde_

This takes place after "It's a new day, it's a new dawn, it's a new year"

A/N Thank you so much for reading along and for all your wonderful reviews. They really do keep me going. :) Thank you :)

M rating (mostly for language)

**Thank you Margaret** for reading ahead as my Beta. :) I much appreciate :) **I also want to thank trhodes9** for her Terry suggestions. Again, much appreciated :).

Don't own the characters (except for Clyde), just playing :)

**Chapter 28 — The Turn Around**

_**Still Bobby's POV**_

"Steph, is Clyde only talking to me or did you hear him too?"

"I spoke to you, Steph and Hector." Clyde said, answering my question. "I'm not sure if Hector's deactivated Steph's phone yet, but doesn't it have tracking capabilities?"

My phone rang just then. It was Hector.

"Sí. Even if it's turned off I can use triangulation to find out where it is. I also took the cop's IP address from his phone a while back when he left it out during a meeting here. If they're both coming from the same coordinates we know we're in the right place."

"You sneaky devil," Steph said overhearing Hector. "I should know to never leave any electronics within fifty feet of you."

"No worries Chica, I have enough on _you_ to open a store. I have a bead on Morelli's phone. Do you guys want to come to five so we can look at this together?"

"We'll be right there," I spoke for the both of us. Well, the three of us.

When we got to Hector's space, he had maps up on two monitors and a tracking device blipping in red over both.

"Chica, this is your phone and this is the cop's," Hector said pointing to one monitor and then the next. "You can see they follow the same path at the same time, so we can assume your phone is in the car with Morelli and Gilman. It looks like they are heading westbound on Rt. 29. If we put out an APB to all Rangeman cars in the area we can probably intercept them."

"Do it. Where's Tank?" I barked, taking command.

"He's with Lester. They went out to look at one of our commercial accounts. It was a false alarm, but they're still on the road," Hector explained calling in the APB.

"Where are they going?" Steph asked, pointing to the bleeps on Hector's screens. "There's nothing on the other side of Rt. 29. Well aside from the stadium and a bunch of old warehouses."

"I tink they are heading towards Rt. 95. I bet they are going to the Trenton-Mercer airport," Hector added, pointing out on the map just where they were in relationship to the field.

"Do you want us to intercept them?" Binkie asked over the command. "We're on Upper Ferry Road, right by the airport."

"Get a bead on their car, Black Mercedes S600; don't know the plate. They have a driver. Gilman and Morelli are passengers. Not sure if the driver's alone in the front or how they are situated. You know what they look like though. Looks like they just turned right onto Upper Ferry."

"We're heading down towards River Road. There's a big Mercedes coming towards us. I think it's them. I'll let them pass and then turn around. Yeah, it's an S600, driver in the front, two people in the back. Do we have the paperwork to apprehend them?"

"No, but I think the feds do. Just follow them."

"Ok." After about a minute Binky came back on. "They just turned on Bear Tavern Road. I think they plan to enter the airport from the back…by runway zero six and the general aviation parking pavilion."

"Just stay with them at a safe distance, I called the feds, but I don't know that they'll get there in time. Don't try to apprehend them; but if they get on a plane find out who filed the flight plan and where they're headed. The feds can pick them up on the other end."

"Gotcha."

We moved to the control room so we could spread out and watch Binkie and Sybo on the monitors. Hector over-rode one of the controls and put the Mercedes onto the grid so we could see the actual distance covered. I just wished we could have apprehended them without pissing off the Feds…we were that close.

And then Stephanie's stomach growled. In the heat of the moment I forgot we hadn't had dinner yet. After we knew where Gilman and Morelli were headed we could go back to my apartment and eat.

"Are you ok Steph?" I asked her.

"Yeah, it's just my dinner bell. Food soon?"

"This can't take longer than ten minutes. Either Binky and Sy will follow them around the airport until the Feds arrive or they'll get on a plane and the guys will find out where they're going."

"Ok I can wait. Hal, do you have any candy bars stashed in there," Steph asked pointing to the file cabinet next to Hal's monitor.

"Sorry Steph, you know Ranger's rules."

"Chica, Bobby look. The Mercedes stopped. I tink they're making their way to the runway. Morelli's phone is moving east."

"I'm sure Binky's got it covered now. Hector did you eat yet?" Bobby asked.

"No. I wanted to finish up this paperwork first. But if you're inviting me, I'll put it aside till tomorrow."

"Come with us to my place. I'll can have dinner on the table in fifteen minutes."

"Gracias."

_**Steph's POV**_

I knew we'd find out where Joe and Terry were headed and I was pretty sure the Feds could coordinate a pickup on the other end. I just hoped Joe wouldn't lose his job by being an accessory. He had so much invested in it. And he was a good cop. Terry was slime to do this to him. Hell, she was slime anyway.

When my stomach growled again, Bobby got up, took my hand and invited Hector to join us. That made four for dinner. Not that Clyde ate anything anyway, but you know what I mean. And speaking of Clyde, I didn't sense him nearby.

"Clyde?"

When I didn't get an answer I picked up my phone to text him.

"Where are you?"

"I followed Joe's cell phone signal. We're boarding a plane to the Cayman Islands."

I showed Bobby Clyde's text.

"Shit. There's no extradition there. Fuck. Ask him to stay with them. Maybe he can do something to the plane so they have to land in Florida. You know, U.S. soil."

I texted Bobby's suggestion to Clyde.

"I don't know how to fly a plane. I wouldn't know what to do to sabotage it."

"You'll think of something. Maybe Bobby knows what to do. We'll text you in a little bit."

We went downstairs to Bobby's apartment on four to finish making dinner. I really wanted to have a brownie first, but after Bobby's little talk earlier, I was sure he would frown on that one.

"Steph do you want to cut up some tomato and cucumber for a simple salad? I have greens in the fridge," Bobby asked, taking me out of my brownie fixation.

Cut I could do, so I agreed and yanked a knife out of the butcher's block on his countertop.

"Whoa, whoa. Steph…Stephanie, watch out. That's sharp."

"I know. Knives are supposed to be sharp."

"No I mean _really_ sharp. Just take it easy and if it drops, don't try to grab for it. I don't need you slicing off a finger."

"Thanks for the vote of confidence Bobby," I said in mock offense. "Maybe we should give this job to Hector, he has a _way_ with knives."

"Sí, I'll do it," Hector said, pulling his own knife from somewhere and approaching the cucumber with it.

"I'll leave you two _boys_ alone. Call me when dinner's ready, I'll be in the living room texting Clyde."

I sat myself down on his couch and pulled out my iPhone. I had a text from Clyde.

"The only passengers on this flight are Morelli and Terry. How did she work that one?"

"It's a corporate jet. Either the Grizzolli's own their own plane or they have a 'fractional ownership' account like Rangeman does."

"I'm sitting in the cockpit with the pilot and co-pilot. I was thinking about talking to them, but I don't want them to get so frightened that they crash the plane."

"If the Grizzolli's own their own plane, those pilots work for them. See what you can find out by listening before you do anything."

"I think I can talk to them through their communication system. I can pretend to be the Cayman Island's air traffic controller and tell them there's congestion or something and they have to try again tomorrow. Help me with this Steph. I haven't been on a plane in sixty-seven years. I don't know the lingo."

"Let me google it. I like that idea though. We were just going to sit down for dinner, so I'll have Bobby and Hector help me. I'll text you back in a little bit."

Clyde's idea was fucking brilliant and I went into the kitchen with my laptop and phone to tell the guys about it.

"He's smart. That will work, but we need some specific information. I hope Binky brought back a copy of the flight plan," Bobby said acknowledging Clyde and using his cell to call Binky.

Binky had a copy and was going to bring it by in ten minutes, which was just enough time to eat. If we all schemed together we could make this sound very real.

"Cessna 4651Lima this is Grand Cayman tower. Copy?"

"51Lima."

"All incoming flights are suspended until 0500 hours. Miami is accepting your flight plan. The MIA tower will lead you in."

Bobby had concocted a real sounding, well to me anyway, conversation between a tower and a plane. Bobby assured me the pilots wouldn't be phased by that kind of a command coming from Grand Cayman's Owen Roberts Airport. Small fields closed all the time.

"Text it to Clyde, but tell him to wait fifteen minutes before he does anything. I want to contact the GCM tower and let them know we are putting out a bogus message in order to apprehend criminals wanted by the FBI. This way they won't react when the pilots answer them back over an open line and they'll also be aware we want the plane to turn back to Miami. Hector can you call the Miami approach and let them know the same thing?"

"Sí," he answered, took out his phone and spoke to someone in Spanish. "Lester and Tank are back," he said to us, then continued his conversation in Spanish. When he switched back to English he sounded very formal and I knew one of our guys had patched him in to the Miami control tower.

"All set," he said back to the room, hanging up his phone and putting it into his cargos. "Junior is going to call the Miami FBI field office for us and let them know about Terry's flight coming in."

So that's who he was talking to. Junior.

I got a text from Clyde _before_ I had a chance to send the concocted text to him. He said they were just over Cuba and needed the directions NOW as the pilots said they were going to be making a final approach.

I looked over to Bobby and he was on a call. I took it into my own hands and sent the text. We'd figure out whatever we had to…later.

Thankfully it all worked out. The tower at Grand Cayman got wind of our request, just as the bogus call to Terry's plane was made by Clyde. Thankfully the guys in the tower never asked who sent out the message, or how they did it. It would be a little hard to explain a ghost.

We stayed on the line with the Grand Cayman tower and heard Clyde's request for Terry's plane to turn around and then one of the real controllers chuckle. Guessed their stressful jobs had little place for humor. I was glad we made his day.

The tower at Grand Cayman confirmed that Terry's plane's nav/com had been intercepted by Miami and they were now safely turned around and heading back the ninety miles to U.S. soil. Bobby anticipated they'd be on the ground in about fifteen minutes and called Miami's FBI field office to make sure someone would be there to greet the plane.

I wished we could see it all in person, but since we didn't have the right to apprehend we wouldn't have a video hookup. All we had were Clyde's blow-by-blow descriptions via text.

"The pilot just announced that we were being sent back to Miami and wouldn't be able to land at Grand Cayman until after 5 am tomorrow. Terry is having a hissy fit. I feel like slapping her silly. Why didn't you tell me she was such a spoiled brat?"

"Sorry, thought you would have figured that out by now.

"If she doesn't stop whining, I'm going to do something. Maybe I can make it look like Joe did it."

Wished I could see that one.

"She's demanding limo service to the Miami International Airport Hotel. To me, if it's in the airport why would she need a limo? I hope the feds arrive in a big car and she goes over to them willingly. Oops, she just tripped over her own feet."

"Clyde, what did you do."

"Oh, poor baby…she scratched her knee on the table edge. Fuck, she deserved that one."

"Clyde, I never heard you curse before."

"I guess she brings out the worst in me. The pilot just came on. We're on final for MIA. I take it that means Miami?"

"Guess so. Let me know what happens."

"Will do."

I had been relaying to Bobby, Hector and Binky everything that Clyde had texted me. Their three faces lit up like Christmas when I told them that Clyde tripped Terry. I didn't know so many people hated her. I thought I was the only one.

"We just landed," Clyde texted a few minutes later. "We're taxiing to her limo. I hope the feds are ready to intercept them. I've had enough of her."

"Give us all the details. Did you come to a stop yet?"

"No. Yes. Ok we're waiting for the attendant to open the door. She just got called into the cockpit. Maybe they alerted the plane about the FBI. Ok she's back and turning the lever on the door. Terry is chafing at the bit. Shit…two men in black just entered and whoa…Joe just pulled a gun on Terry. Holy shit. They have her surrounded and are reading her her rights. Oh man, she just turned around and slapped Joe in the face. I wish you could see this."

"What's going on? Why did Joe pull a gun on her?"

"He seems to know the feds. He just pulled some papers from his pocket. Two other men in black just arrested the pilots. Looks like Joe, me and the attendant are going to be the only ones to walk off this flight."

"Bobby, did you know that Joe was working undercover?" I asked, turning to the guys.

"Yeah I did Steph. I'm sorry I couldn't tell you."

"For like how long? Since Hal installed the video cameras at Joe's?"

"I think it was around that time, maybe earlier."

"Bobby, do you think he was fucking her as part of his undercover job?"

"No, I think that was a bonus. According to the intel we pulled up, he's been fucking her for a very long time."

"And you didn't tell me? Why?"

"It wasn't my place to tell you. Ranger told you, didn't he?"

"Yes, but he _only_ told me on Christmas night. If you knew before…"

"Whoa Steph, back up. I'm not the enemy here."

"Did Carlos know _before_ Hal installed the cameras?" I asked getting all worked up again.

"I'm sure he had his suspicions. We all did. Listen, you did too," he said trying to placate me. "Steph, it's not worth getting all worked up about. You and Ranger have a beautiful thing together."

"I hate being lied to."

"No one _lied _to you. And Ranger waited until he had concrete evidence to show you. You wouldn't have believed him otherwise."

I just lost it then and the tears started falling from my eyes. I was so confused. I felt so betrayed by Carlos. I mean I knew he couldn't tell me about his mission stuff…but _this_ was personal. And I wasn't looking upon his merry men too merrily right now either.


	29. Chapter 29 —Coming Clean

_Blinky, Pinky, Inky and Clyde_

This takes place after "It's a new day, it's a new dawn, it's a new year"

A/N Thank you so much for reading along and for all your wonderful reviews. They really do keep me going. :) Thank you :)

M rating (mostly for language)

**Thank you Margaret** for reading ahead as my Beta. :) I much appreciate :)

Don't own the characters (except for Clyde), just playing :)

**Chapter 29 — Coming Clean**

"I need to go," I said. I wanted to run up to seven, pack up some things and Rex and go back to my apartment. I needed to be alone to think this through.

"I can understand you being upset," Bobby said, "your hormones are working overtime. Why don't we have some brownies and we can talk about this?"

"I'm done talking. I just want to go home."

"Then take a few brownies upstairs with you. The chocolate will mellow you a bit."

"I'm not _going_ upstairs. I'm going _home_. Can't you see how all of this makes me feel? Once again Stephanie is the fool. No Bobby, I gotta _go_."

With that I grabbed my bag and my jacket and let myself out of Bobby's apartment. I took the elevator up to seven and fobbed myself in.

The lights were on. I knew I didn't leave them on.

"Carlos?" I called out. I wasn't expecting him for at least another week, but maybe his mission ended early? "Carlos?" I called again.

I walked into the bedroom and I heard water running in the bathroom. Suddenly nothing mattered but seeing Carlos. I dropped my bag on the bed and stripped off all of my clothes. I opened the bathroom door and walked in to join him in the shower.

"You're home?"

"Babe. Didn't you get my voicemail and my text?"

I couldn't answer him because at that moment he pulled me close, wrapped his arms around me and brought his mouth down on mine.

"Oh Carlos. I love you so much. I'm so happy you're here," I got out when we broke for air.

"I love you too Babe," he said before reaching back down, kissing me again and pulling me to him.

His mouth was everywhere. It was as if he couldn't get enough of me. Not that I minded, I was so happy to have him back to me in one piece. God did I miss him.

"Let me wash you Babe," he said changing his tact and opening his heavenly shower gel that's been keeping me going for the last two weeks.

"Mmmm. You haven't lost your touch," I said when he brought the washcloth to my back and gently massaged the bath gel onto my skin. He turned me around and started washing the front of me, concentrating on my breasts and belly. I looked down and noticed he was sporting an erection. I took the washcloth from him and added some more gel to it. I started with his arms; then his chest and we never got any further. I moaned with pleasure as he entered me. God, he felt so good.

The thing about the water at Rangeman is that it's always the perfect temperature, but suddenly it went luke-warm and then cold and I started to shiver. I guessed we set a new record for time in the shower. Carlos noticed my goosebumps and turned off the water. He got out of the shower and brought one of his big fluffy towels to me and wrapped me in it.

"I can't have you getting sick on me. We can continue this in our warm bed," he said grabbing another towel for himself."

"Carlos, we need to talk. So much has happened."

"If you're talking about those bruises, I can still see them and I rather not ruin the moment thinking about someone hurting you."

"The someone was Jimmy Bucci," I said ruining the mood myself and hoping that after I told him all I had to, he'd still want to be with me.

"He did this to you?"

"Well he and the Grizzolli goons."

"Ok. I guess we do need to talk. Should I make some coffee?"

I nodded yes and went in search of some comfortable clothing. I found one of Carlos' T-shirts and a couple of pair of sweat pants and went out to the kitchen to help.

I gave Carlos the larger-sized sweats and he replaced his towel with them while I took coffee out of the refrigerator and put it on the counter. He had no idea how serious this conversation was going to turn.

"Ok Babe tell me what's been going on?" he asked once he brewed coffee and we poured it into cups.

"Let's go into the living room. I think you might want to get comfortable for this one."

"Babe?"

"Yeah, there's a lot."

Once we got situated and I was sitting in the chair that was catty corner to the couch he was uncomfortably sitting on, I began. I told him about the demolition permits and about Jimmy attacking me in the basement. I told him about Clyde saving me from certain rape and finally about Jimmy being a registered sex offender.

Carlos was taking it all pretty calmly until I mentioned sex offender.

"What the fuck?" he said pushing up from the couch to come over to me.

"Please stay there until I finish," I demanded. It took everything he had but Carlos nodded ok and sat back down. "John said he told you and that you said it was a long time ago and..."

"John told me Jimmy had been in trouble with the law. Many of my men, including myself have been there. He never told me it was a sex crime. So when I said forgive and forget, I had assumed it was a B&E or a petty theft. I would never have let him anywhere near you had I known."

I believed Carlos. I knew John hadn't been 100% truthful.

"Well nothing happened other than a few scrapes…thanks to Clyde. And when I confronted John he offered us a great deal on the work. Jimmy is going to be going away for a long time and John actually seemed relieved."

"I'll need to talk to him, but as long as you're comfortable with the arrangements, I guess we can keep them on."

"We got Mike the grandfatherly plumber. I haven't met him yet although Cal and Ram say most of the internal demolition is already complete."

"Where were _you_?"

"That's story number two. I got involved in a role playing assignment with Les, his mom and his niece. With Hal's expert resume and fake ID skills, Stephanie Pardo applied for and got a job as the head of customer service for Verde Electric. That's the Grizzolli's fraudulent green energy company. Hector also got a job as their head of IT." I was surprised that Carlos didn't interrupt me but as I was on a roll, I kept on going.

"Unfortunately on my first day Terry showed up with a couple of Vito's goons and they took me for a ride to the complex."

"Did they hurt you?"

"They just roughed me up a little. My other black and blues. Anyway, Bobby, Tank, Cal and Ram showed up and Vito's dead," I paraphrased.

"Is that it?"

"Uh no. We're pregnant."

"_What?_"

"It seems that the condom we used in the Cayenne was, um, faulty. The heat from the exhaust caused the latex to break down and your sperm swam upstream."

"What about your pills?"

"I guess I missed a day or two with everything we had going on and, well…"

"Has it been confirmed?"

"Clyde saw the double aura first and told me about it. I didn't believe him, but after the Grizzoli incident today Bobby had me take a blood test. He just got the results back. We're a week-and-a-half along."

"Babe," Carlos said, coming over, wrapping his arms around me and kissing me. "I wasn't expecting this so soon. But everything will turn out ok. I love you and I love our baby," he said bending down to kiss my belly. "Only a week and a half? I've been gone almost two weeks."

"That's what the numbers say. I guess they count from implantation. There was no one else."

"I wasn't questioning _that_ Babe, just their math. Everything's going to be fine. Please don't worry."

Carlos got quiet after that. I really hoped he believed me.

"Should we try to up our wedding plans?" he asked finally. "Maybe we don't need to wait for the demolition to be complete. We could find a hall?"

"NO," I said adamantly, thinking about my mother and the Knights of Columbus she always bought up. "No, no, no. I would _hate_ that kind of a wedding. If you think people will be upset when they find out I'm pregnant, we could just get married _after_ the baby is born. No. I can't do a hall wedding. I won't."

"Ok Babe, I would never force that idea on you. We can wait. The demolition should be complete in a few weeks. Does anyone else know about the baby?"

"Well, you, me, Clyde, Bobby, Tank and Les," I said counting on my fingers. "And Cal and Ram were at the Grizzolli's when Les opened his big mouth. And then Cal told Hal…but that's it."

"Let's talk to Bobby, see if he can recommend a good obstetrician…"

"Um, I don't think Bobby is too happy with me right now."

"Babe, what happened?"

I told him about dinner and my emotional outburst.

"I think Bobby will forgive you. I'm sure he understands about the hormonal ups and downs that pregnant women have. He reads a lot of medical journals."

"I know. He was blabbering on about percentages of babies developing all kinds of things because the mother didn't eat right. He's a little obsessive."

"He's a good medic and he's just about done with his PA program."

"He's not going to leave us is he?"

"No Babe, he just wanted the accreditation. He would have gotten the IPAP in the army but he wanted the Ranger training more. Bobby is a good guy. Now let's call him."

"Ok, but let me apologize."

"I don't think that will be necessary, but if you want to, go ahead."

Carlos picked up the phone and called downstairs. He spoke with Bobby for a few minutes then handed the phone to me.

"Hi Bobby. I'm sorry I acted like an idiot before. I don't know what came over me. I hope you can forgive me?"

"Don't worry about it Steph. I'm just glad everything turned out ok. Ranger asked about an OB/GYN. I don't know anyone I can recommend, but I'll look into it and come up with a few names tomorrow. We know a good one in Newark but he doesn't want you to travel that far."

"_Newark_? Anyone Carlos knows?"

"Yeah, his sister Daria's, sister-in-law. She's the head of the Women's Health Center at Beth Israel. You'd like her, but that's a long drive when you have to go regularly. I'll call her tomorrow and get some recommendations closer to home."

I thanked Bobby and then hung up.

"Carlos why didn't you mention that your brother-in-law's sister was head of the Women's Center at Beth Israel?"

"I don't want you to drive that far. It's an hour each way and when you're near term that hour is going to be the most uncomfortable drive you've ever had."

"Oh. I guess you're right. Did you take Rachel to her?"

"No. Rachel was in Miami for most of her pregnancy and Sharon was still in her residency."

"Bobby said I'd like her. Maybe we can go to her now and switch later?"

"I don't think that's a good idea and you wouldn't like it if someone did that to you. She'll find us a good doctor nearby and they'll be one of the top ten doctors in New Jersey if I know her."

"I like the idea that's she's a woman."

"We'll make that a criteria."

All of a sudden I remembered what set me off with Bobby in the first place.

"Uh, Carlos? Did you know that Joe was undercover working on the Grizzolli case?"

"What happened? Why are you asking?"

I told him about Terry picking up Joe and heading to the airport and that my phone was in the car.

"Well that's why you never got my voicemail message or texts letting you know I was on my way home. They went to your old phone…"

"Please let me finish, ok?" I interrupted, not wanting to get off track while it was still clear in my head.

"Ok Babe."

"So Hector tracked Joe's cell _and_ mine to the airport where Joe and Terry got on a private jet to Grand Cayman. Clyde went with them. Clyde came up with a bogus air traffic thing so they had to land in Florida instead. When they landed the FBI came on board and Joe pulled his gun on Terry. Why didn't you tell me Joe was working undercover?"

"Rangeman was under contract with the FBI, I couldn't divulge any information. And Joe was working directly with them through TPD. It was all hush, hush."

"But I'm not _just_ anybody. Why couldn't you tell _me_?"

"If it would have leaked out the whole operation would have been blown. And we weren't together then the way we are now. You were still with Morelli."

"That's another thing. Why didn't you tell me about Joe and Terry if you knew?"

"I did tell you. I showed you the video. It was the only solid evidence we had other than Terry coming and going from Morelli's house, and that wouldn't have satisfied you. Babe I told you on _Christmas Night_. Do you think I wanted to ruin your holiday? If I had had anything sooner, I would have shared it. You mean too much to me to just ignore his indiscretions. Especially since I knew how you felt about relationships. I never meant to hurt you."

He was right of course, and it all made so much sense the way he put it. I felt embarrassed for doubting him or his actions. Suddenly my emotions just got the best of me and I burst into tears.

"Babe," Carlos said, coming over and wrapping his arms around me. "I love you so much, please don't cry. Everything will be ok."

I just couldn't control my emotions. Carlos pulled the two of us down onto the couch so that I was nestled against his chest and he held me tight. He kissed the top of my head and tried to calm me with words in Spanish.

I picked up the word bebé, which sounds pretty much like the English word baby.

"Carlos, are you talking about our child?"

"I'm talking _to_ him or her. I read somewhere that they can hear in the womb and I want our baby to know how much he or she is loved."

Unfortunately that was the wrong thing to say to me in my present state and I burst into tears again.

Carlos passed me some tissues from the coffee table and while I was blowing my nose and getting myself under control once more, I sensed Clyde with us.

"I'm sorry to interrupt. I wasn't expecting you to be back yet Ranger," I heard in my head. "I can leave and come back tomorrow."

"No stay," I said. "I just told Carlos about the baby and I got a little emotional. Please stay."

"I think I should leave you two alone."

"No it's ok. I'd like you to stay. I want our baby to get to know his Uncle Clyde too."

"This is bonding time for the three of you, I'll be back in the morning, but thank you."

And he was gone.


	30. Chapter 30 — Pressed for Time

_Blinky, Pinky, Inky and Clyde_

This takes place after "It's a new day, it's a new dawn, it's a new year"

A/N Thank you so much for reading along and for all your wonderful reviews. They really do keep me going. :) Thank you :)

M rating (mostly for language)

**Thank you Margaret** for reading ahead as my Beta. :) I much appreciate :)

Don't own the characters (except for Clyde), just playing :)

**Chapter 30 — Pressed for Time**

Carlos and I spent a good part of the night letting out bodies reacquaint themselves with each other. It felt so good to know we still fit perfectly together and the things we did, the places we took each other were well worth losing sleep over.

When I woke up in the morning we were still wrapped around each other and I noticed a pinkish scar on his outer thigh that hadn't been there before he left.

"Carlos?" I asked running my finger over it's depression.

"Bullet graze Babe. It's nothing."

I knew he couldn't tell me so I didn't ask. I hated seeing his beautiful body marred by anything and it upset me to think that that bullet could have very easily hit him someplace else. I was really glad his contract was over and he'd never have to do this again. Well, that's what he told me last time too.

We made love one more time before getting up to start our day. It was a gentle,'I love you' kind of lovemaking. While I showered Carlos made coffee and called Ella to bring up breakfast. After I did my hair and put on some mascara I checked my phone. I had one message from my mother and a text from Clyde. I read the text first.

"Dr. Prasad and Raj will be here tomorrow. Do you think Rangeman might have an open apartment for Dr. Prasad to stay in?"

I took the text to Carlos and explained about Dr. Prasad and his ghostly patient, Rajiv.

"What happened to Dr. Fishbourne?"

"He said Clyde is too evolved of a spirit for him to offer much help. He recommended Dr. Prasad, his counterpart in India. Clyde called him and now he's on his way."

"Clyde _called_ him?"

"Oh yeah that's right, you haven't seen how strong he's gotten. He can speak a number of sentences in a row before depleting his energy and he doesn't need to text you if he's in the same room with you. He's figured out how to mentally get through. It's like you think you hear something and then you realize it's Clyde. I'll have him show you. So do you think there's an open apartment he can stay in?"

"I thought I picked up on him speaking to me last night, but I imagined that Hector set up some VOIP system for him to speak through. I'll have to check with Tank about an apartment. Even if nothing is available, I'm sure we can work out something if it's only for a few days. Maybe a couple of the guys can room together."

"I'd hate to put out any of the guys. Maybe he can stay at my apartment."

"Let me talk to Tank first. Dr. Prasad probably won't have a car and it might be easier if he's in this building."

I nodded and Carlos used the intercom in the kitchen to call Tank. I could hear both sides of the conversation. Tank had become a huge fan of Clyde's since the Grizzolli incident and he had a small apartment he was saving for a visiting dignitary.

"Fuck him, and he's not due in the states for another week. Yeah let's give the apartment to Dr. Prasad and his spook."

"Tank, that's so derogatory," I said.

"It's not derogatory if it's true and as far as I'm concerned that's just what he is."

"But Clyde isn't?"

"Hell no. He's one of us. He's earned his stripes."

I texted back to Clyde that Tank had an apartment for Dr. Prasad and Raj to stay in.

"So where are you going to stay?" I asked worrying about him a little. He was just running from one place to another.

"I can stay with Joe. Bob and I aren't done with him yet, or if we get into long philosophical discussions, I'll stay with Raj."

"I see you've mentally befriended him already."

"Well it would be nice to have someone a little like myself to talk to, don't you think?"

"I guess. I was hoping Tank could set you up in an apartment here to. Are you going to talk to Carlos about a job?"

"I was planning to, but I think he may have other things on his mind right now with the baby."

"Make an appointment and talk to him; he's not that busy."

"Ok, should I _call_ him?"

"No silly, just get in his head."

"Ok, I'll let you know what he says."

"Babe?" Carlos asked taking me out of my texting. I looked up and he was on his phone. "Bobby has a recommendation from Sharon. Do you want him to make an appointment for us?"

"Uh sure. Yeah, anytime is good."

"Do you think you might like to run searches for us full time now too? I'm a little concerned about you continuing with your bounty hunting until after the baby is born."

"I guess you're right. But do you think I can ride along with one of the guys every once in a while, just to get out?"

"I don't see why not. I'll have Tank get you on rotation. What were you and Clyde texting about so frantically?"

"He's already befriended Raj in his head. What if they don't get along?"

"He's a big boy, he'll figure it out. Bobby's asking if Tuesday at four is good? The doctor is in Ewing, not too far from our house."

"That'll come in handy in about six months and I'm glad he's not in the Burg."

"It's a she. She's one of the top rated doctors in New Jersey. I told you."

"And what's her name?"

"Dr. Catherine Eptaminitis."

"Sure. Tuesday at four is good. Maybe we can go to dinner at my parents afterwards? I haven't been over there in a few weeks."

"Do you plan on telling them?"

"I'd like to keep it a secret for a while longer. We can tell everyone after the wedding. Ok?"

"Whatever you want to do Babe. People don't usually spread the news until after the first trimester anyway, but I thought since most of Rangeman knows, we might want to tell our families."

"We can tell yours."

"Are you afraid of Helen's reaction?"

"Well, I don't really need a case of 'why me' right now."

I was being truthful. I could hear her going off about Elaine Minardi's daughter. How she wouldn't be walking down the aisle with a belly out to there.

"Babe, we're not waiting _that_ long. The demolition should be complete in a few weeks."

"I said that out loud? Sorry. How far in advance do we need to do things like arrange for the tents and the heaters?"

"We can do that now. We probably should talk to Bucci for a timeframe and pick a day after all the work is done. Then send out invitations to make it real. I guess we should figure out who we want to perform our ceremony and look at rings for us too."

"You'll wear a ring?"

"Of course I will. I'm not trying to hide anything."

"Carlos, would you marry me even if I weren't having our baby?"

"Are you forgetting Babe that I asked you to marry me months ago?"

"I know but that was just getting engaged. This is getting married."

"Babe. I thought we'd already made that decision before I left for my mission," he said, coming over and lifting up my chin so he could look directly into my eyes. "Of course I still want to marry you. Dios, you're the most important person in my life."

He pulled me to him and held me tight, while he kissed the top of my head.

"I love you Babe."

"I love you too Carlos."

There was a knock on our door and then Ella used her key to let herself in.

"Am I interrupting something?" she asked from the doorway before coming into the apartment.

"I was just telling Stephanie how much I love her, come in Ella."

"It's good to see you back, Ranger. I've been trying to keep Stephanie fed, but she seems to have a fondness for peanut butter and olives when you're away."

"Babe."

I shrugged my shoulders. I'd rather not talk about it.

xxxxXXXXxxxx

Hector volunteered to come with me, and of course Clyde, to Newark Airport to pick up Dr. Prasad. We took one of the larger Explorer's in case he had a lot of luggage. He had told us that after he visited with us he and Raj were going to Stanford University to take part in a study for a few weeks.

The good thing about ghosts is that they fly for free since no one knows they're there, so Dr. Prasad only needed to worry about tickets and luggage for one. And who knew what ghosts _wore_ anyway?

We had parked the car in one of the short-term parking lots and were waiting for him in the baggage claim area. I had a sign with his name on it, just like the limo drivers we were standing with. The only difference was that I was in jeans and Hector looked menacing. The limo drivers all seemed to be wearing suits and ties.

An older gentleman with a white beard and a turban was looking over at the signs; his eyes did a double take on me and mine. He smiled and rolled his suitcase over to us.

"Dr. Sandeep Prasad," he said, extending his hand to me.

"Stephanie Plum," I said then introduced Hector. "Is Rajiv with you?" I asked not sure if I'd be able to detect him the way I detected Clyde.

Then I heard Clyde in my head. "Steph this is Raj. Raj, Steph and Hector. Raj got into my head as soon as he spotted your sign."

Then I heard him with his thick Indian accent. "Hello Stephanie and Hector. Thank you for having us. You don't know how happy I am to meet you and Clyde. I thought I was alone in this world."

"Is this your only bag?" I asked Dr. Prasad, not wanting to sound like a crazy person by carrying on a conversation with the air.

"Yes, I was hoping I'd be able to do laundry at Stanford. Do you have a car or should we take the bus? I have already downloaded the schedule."

"No we have a car. Follow us," I said as I took Dr. Prasad's suitcase from him. I guessed Hector didn't like the idea of me rolling Dr. Prasad's suitcase so he took it from me. As we made our way to the car Clyde was unusually quiet. Well in my head anyway, maybe he and Raj were talking up a storm.

"We have an apartment for you to stay in at Rangeman, so you don't have to worry about a hotel," I said, trying to break the ice.

"Rangeman?"

"I'm sorry Rangeman is my fiancé's security company. He has an office building in downtown Trenton with a whole floor devoted to employee and guest living space. We were able to free up one of the guest apartments for you and Raj."

"Thank you very much. You are so kind."

Hector put Dr. Prasad's bag in the back and we loaded into the Explorer. It's an hour's drive back to Rangeman so I hoped that would give us an opportunity to get to know one another a bit.

"So what do you think of Clyde?" I asked once again, trying to get Dr. Prasad to open up a bit.

"As a spirit, he's far more evolved that Raj, but I'm hoping they'll be able to teach each other things. He's already taught Raj how to get inside a person's head to speak with them—and they did that one by texting.

"Clyde _is_ special, isn't he?"

"Thanks Steph," Clyde said out loud, probably to prove to Dr. Prasad that he could indeed speak. "Raj and I are looking at this as a work/study program. I hope to have him talking by the end of the week."

"Raj can manifest his energy into heat. Show Steph Raj."

Suddenly I felt warmth on the back of my neck. It radiated down through my shoulder blades and seemed to settle into my most stressed areas. It was like a heat massage for my back and neck.

"This is nice Raj. Thank you. That feels really good."

"You're welcome," I heard in my head. "I will teach Clyde how to do it. It might help with your pregnancy when you're further along."

"Clyde, you have a big mouth."

"I just pointed out the auras and _he_ figured it out. Not my doing."

Men. Or should I say, 'spirited' men.

We were nearing Rangeman so I wanted to point out a few key landmarks in case they wanted to go out on their own. There was the deli around the corner and the natural foods market down the street. When I came to think about it, not a lot of landmarks to someone unfamiliar with the area. I guessed we could always put a tracker on the doctor.

I wanted to introduce them to Carlos first, so we got off on five. Dr. Prasad's turban and white beard were enough to turn heads even before we got to Carlos' office. I saw Lester getting up from his perch by Binky's cube to come closer to see what was going on. Somehow Bobby appeared out of nowhere and Tank 'just happened' to come out of his office as we walked by. I guessed we were a sight to behold.

"Knock, knock," I said, pretending to knock on Carlos' door. He was deep in thought looking at his computer screen. He looked up and did a double take at the twisted beard that disappeared into Dr. Prasad's turban.

"Carlos, this is Dr. Prasad and Rajiv," I introduced. Raj, Dr. Prasad, my fiancé Carlos Manoso. He's usually called by his nickname, Ranger.

"Nice to meet you _Ranger_, call me Sandeep. Steph, call me Sandeep too. Too much doctor."

I nodded my approval and offered Sandeep the guest chair.

"I guess we are in an unusual situation," Carlos began. "My wife," and I looked at him oddly when he said this, but he continued. "My wife befriended Clyde after we made up our collective minds to buy the house he was haunting. I didn't even believe he was an entity until Steph brought him to me by his hand and made us shake. She's got a strong personality and she's adopted Clyde as a brother and a friend. I'm just back from two weeks abroad and in those two weeks Clyde has protected my wife almost better than I could have, given similar situations. He's asked that you come here to help take him to his next level. I hope you can do this, both for Clyde's sake as well as ours."

"Thank you Mr. Rangeman. I've been trying to help Raj make that same leap, but I just don't know where to go with him…."

"Clyde has grown beyond any of our expectations. I think it's because he's been collaborating with my wife, she brings out the best in people. His progress is more than I could have ever imagined.

That word again.

"If I'm understanding correctly, Clyde would like to be able to manifest his energy into some form of a body. He's made great progress on his own; according to Stephanie he can hold her hand for a few minutes before his energy is depleted. I was hoping that you and Raj can help him to reach his potential. I will pay you well for your efforts."

"Please Ranger," I heard Clyde break in, "thank you, but that's not necessary. I have the money to pay him myself. I just need your help. You were the one who told me 1943 bills can't go back into circulation."

"We'll work it out Clyde. Dr. Prasad?"

"Sandeep. Do you think we can persuade Dr. Fishbourne to come to the U.S. too? I think I'll need his help. Between the two of us maybe we can bring both spirits to their full potential in a short period of time. Raj and I do have some obligations. We're participating in a study at Stanford University in California beginning April 29th, so we only have a couple of weeks here."

"I can call Dr. Fishbourne now. Let's see what he says," Carlos stated, looking at his watch then picking up his iPhone to scroll through for Dr. Fishbourne's number. When he found it, he picked up the landline in his office to place the call.

"Jeffrey? Carlos," he said when someone picked up on the other end.

Once Carlos told Dr. Fishbourne about everything that was going on stateside with Clyde, Raj and Dr. Prasad, Dr. Fishbourne said he would try to clear his calendar and join us in New Jersey. He said he had been invited to participate in the study at Stanford too, but had not yet given them an answer although RSVPs were due weeks ago. He said they'd probably let him attend even if he hadn't replied since he was considered tops in his field. He promised to call Carlos back within the hour to let him know if and when he was coming.

Hector took Dr. Prasad to the breakroom to get some water and some kind of healthy snack. I guessed Clyde and Raj went with them as I no longer felt Clyde's presence next to me.

"Carlos, do you think Clyde might benefit from taking part in that Stanford study too?"

"I need to look into it more, but it sounds promising."

I got quiet. I wanted Clyde at my wedding. I didn't want him to be in California at the time.

"Babe, what's the matter?"

"Nothing, I just want Clyde at our wedding. Sandeep said the study was going to last several weeks."

"Let's call John and get a ballpark on the work. I would think that the structure itself should come down quickly, it's only wood." With that Carlos picked up his phone again and called John Bucci."

"Bucci here," I heard through the speaker of his iPhone.

"John? Carlos. We need to talk about your brother, but that's not why I'm calling right now. Do you have an ETA on the demolition?"

"We should be done in another week or so. The boiler, pipes, electrical system and kitchen are gone. We carted them away yesterday. The rest should come down fairly easily. Breaking down the concrete of the basement and filling in the footprint will probably take a few days after that. I plan to bring in about ten truckloads of fill dirt. Do you need an actual date?"

"Well you know we wanted to have our wedding at the house. I'd like to start planning."

"Ok let me look at a calendar. I'd say we should be out of there by the first of May."

My face fell. Sandeep said they needed to be at Stanford by April 29th.

"Carlos can you ask him about working weekends? I'd like to have our wedding on Saturday the 27th to accommodate Clyde, Sandeep and Raj's schedule."

"Babe, you don't know for sure that Clyde will be going with them."

"He will; I can feel it."

John overheard our little 'to the side' and interrupted us. "Yes, I can throw a few more men on the job and we can work the next two weekends. We can be out of there by the 24th. Will that give you enough time to set everything up?"

Carlos was a miracle worker, so I had no doubt we could prep the place in three days. We'd just need to start now.


	31. Chapter 31—Making Plans

_Blinky, Pinky, Inky and Clyde_

This takes place after "It's a new day, it's a new dawn, it's a new year"

A/N Thank you so much for reading along and for all your wonderful reviews. They really do keep me going. :) Thank you :)

M rating (mostly for language)

**Thank you Margaret** for reading ahead as my Beta. :) I much appreciate :)

Don't own the characters (except for Clyde), just playing :)

**Chapter 31 — Making Plans**

The date was set. Our wedding was going to take place on Saturday, April the 27th, 2013. Raj told us that our wedding date added up to the number 1 and in Indian numerology it was a special number. He said that from a spiritual perspective, it was the number of creation; the primal force from which all other numbers emerge. His words: 'When you truly understand the place and function of this most primal of all numbers, you'll know all there is to know and enlightenment will be yours'.

It sounded heavy-duty to me, but as long as it was positive, I'd take it. The creation thing got me a little freaked out, you know with our baby on the way and all, but I guessed Indian numerology had been around for forever and it probably held some truths.

We called our parents and gave them the date of our wedding. We knew it was only three weeks away, but we were sure everyone who wanted to be there, would be there. My mother started in on me for it being outside in the middle of winter.

"Mom, it's not winter, it's spring and we'll have a huge beautiful white tent with windows and flowers and lots of heat lamps. You won't be cold at all…I promise you. I was thinking of wearing a backless dress."

"Oh my God Stephanie, how can you do this to me? What will the neighbors say about a backless wedding dress? Can't you do anything according to tradition?"

"You know mom, you're right. I can't. And I really don't care what your neighbors think. They are not invited. Nor is the press. So if anyone other than family and friends see me, God bless them. I gotta go, we have more people to call. We'll send out formal invitations but I just wanted you to know as much in advance as possible. Oh, Carlos and I will be in the neighborhood on Tuesday, is it ok if we stop by for dinner?"

"Of course Stephanie. What is it that he doesn't eat again? Pot roast?"

"He says he'll eat anything, but I'd have roast chicken just to be on the safe side. We'll see you Tuesday."

I hung up and I was drained. I had yet to call Connie, Lula, Mary Lou and Val. I had kind of asked them months ago to be in my wedding party, but now it was for real.

We weren't having a traditional wedding by any measure. They could wear whatever they wanted. I wasn't even sure what color _my_ dress would be, maybe even Rangeman black. I just saw it as backless; form fitting yet drapey. Elegant and beautiful. Classy. Sexy in an understated kind of way.

I knew Carlos would wear Armani. And _everything_ went with Armani.

The ringing phone took me out of my dress dream. It was Ella.

"I was able to find a caterer to work with me on your wedding dinner. They'll take care of the hors d'oeuvres and give me two chefs to help prepare the dinner and cake here on the fourth floor. I'm so excited. I wanted to run my menu ideas by you and Carlos, can I come up now?"

"Of course Ella. Carlos is in his study working. We just told our families and I'm sure he's in overwhelm, but he'll come out to talk food."

Ella was up five minutes later. When I opened the door to her knock, she was grinning from ear to ear. She had a notebook full of notes and some pictures she'd pulled from magazines. I knew she was going to outdo herself. I texted Carlos that Ella was here and why and he came out to the kitchen to go over things with us.

"Stop me if you don't like something ok?" Ella began. "I know there are just over a hundred guests and a lot of them will be Rangeman, but I still saw this as an elegant affair. Ok," she said putting on the glasses that were hanging around her neck so she could read from her list, "for hors d'oeuvres I was seeing a couple of waiters walking around with finger foods. I thought mini sweet Maryland crab cakes with an herb remoulade. Chinese chicken salad in miniature tortilla cups and vegetarian spring rolls with a mustard dipping sauce."

We didn't stop her, so she continued.

"When everyone is seated I saw a first course of spring pea soup garnished with garlic flowers…"

"What are garlic flowers?" I interrupted.

"They are tiny purple flowers, they'll look beautiful with the green of the soup and have a very light garlicky flavor."

"Ok, keep going."

"Then I saw a choice of a baby beet and burrata salad with edible flowers or a crab and lobster louie with horseradish panna cotta topped with avocado and baby greens. Should I keep going?"

"Yes, you're making me hungry. Carlos, what do you think?"

"Sounds wonderful. Do you have any main courses in mind?"

"I do. I was thinking of a choice between grilled rack of lamb with stir-fried vegetables and wasabi potato puree or a roasted dover sole with fava beans over an artichoke puree.

"And for dessert a choice of mini strawberry shortcakes with homemade whipped cream dusted with cocoa powder or red velvet cake with vanilla bean ice cream, strawberries and lavender drizzle. Of course we'd have wedding cake too. I was seeing a three tiered cake with white fondant icing topped with sugar rose clusters in three shades of pink."

"What's inside the cake?" I asked suddenly drooling with anticipation.

"I thought each layer could be different. The bottom layer could be a white cake with lemon buttercream and raspberries, then the next layer could be a chocolate almond cake with chocolate ganache and mocha buttercream and the top could be a coconut cake with lime buttercream. I thought your Cuban guests would love the coconut cake. And when you sliced into this cake it would be so pretty with it's different colors and textures."

"Ella it sounds fabulous. Oh my God, you've certainly out done yourself. I'm so excited. Are you sure you'll be able to pull this off in time?"

"Yes. If you give me the go-ahead on everything I can order the food now. We'll prep then make everything on the Friday before."

"Carlos?"

"I'm speechless. Yes. Ella everything sounds wonderful and so planned out."

"Oh and I have pictures. I wanted to show you an example of a wedding cake with different flavored tiers. Here, isn't this beautiful?"

"Oh my God. Ella? I can't believe you're going to make this for us. You are such a dream."

"Thank you dear. I wanted this to be a special day for the two of you. Do you need help picking out a dress?"

It was as if she was reading my mind.

"Well, I was thinking I wanted something elegant…but I want it backless. I saw the top like a halter then fitted through the waist, maybe with some sheer silver over-layer and some point of interest in the back. This is just in my head, I don't think I've seen this anywhere…well, maybe on Angelina Jolie."

"What color?"

"I'm open, but I was seeing it white; although with that sheer silver layer over it, it won't appear white. Or else I was seeing the same dress in black."

"Can I make a phone call? I think I know just what you're looking for."

"You do?"

"Yes, as soon as you said Angelina Jolie I saw the exact same dress in my head. I want to call my sister. She'll know if it's D&G, Versace or Vivienne Westwood. Is it ok if I use your phone, I didn't bring mine up with me?"

"Of course Ella, you don't have to ask."

I could see her smiling and nodding as she spoke with her sister. She hung up and came back to us. "It's Versace."

"Ella. I can't afford a Versace dress."

"Of course you can dear, but if you'd prefer not to own it, we can Rent the Runway."

"What's that Ella?"

"It's a member-based website that rents high-end designer clothes and accessories. If you're interested, I'll show you," she said looking over at Carlos.

"Babe, I'll buy it for you. I don't want you walking down the aisle in someone else's dress. But maybe you can tell Lula, Connie, Mary Lou and Val about it. I think money is tight for Mary Lou and your sister right now. In fact, I'll pick up the cost of the rentals for everyone."

"You will?"

"Of course Babe. It'll only be a couple of hundred dollars total."

"You're kidding? How much to rent a dress?"

Ella opened my laptop and typed in her password once she got to the site. There were some of the most beautiful designer dresses I had ever seen and they were being rented out for under a hundred dollars. Oh my God. Who knew? Actually when I started scrolling, gowns were more in the two hundred dollar range, but still, you couldn't buy _those_ dresses for that. Nicole Miller, Vera Wang, Versace…the list went on. And since no one ever wore their bride's maid dresses a second time, renting them really seemed like the way to go.

"You knew about this Carlos?"

"I knew it existed. I can't say I've spent much time on the site."

I quickly called the girls and told them about it. Ella gave each of them her exclusive password and oh my God. Just like that, I was having a designer wedding.

While I was on the phone with Connie, I heard Carlos' cell phone buzzing in his pocket and he went off to take the call somewhere. I actually think he was grateful for the interruption. He could only take so many 'thank you Ranger's' in one day.

I was back to discussing food with Ella when Carlos re-joined us.

"That was Dr. Fishbourne. He's on his way. He's on a 9:05 British Airways flight into Newark. He should get here around eleven tonight. I asked Hal and Junior to pick him up at the airport."

"Do we have someplace for him to stay? Tank said Sandeep look the last open apartment."

"I guess we can set him up in your place. Ella, can you send a service over to Steph's to clean the place and put out clean sheets and towels. Actually, take some sheets and towels from here."

I was going to object and tell them my sheets and towels were good enough, but when I thought about it Carlos' were so much better. Ella agreed, winked at me and turned.

"I'll see you tomorrow Steph. I want to size you and then order the dress. And I can do the alterations if you need any."

"Thank you for everything Ella. I can't believe all you've done for us."

"My pleasure dear. Enjoy your evening. Should I bring up dinner at your usual time?

"Steph, would you like to go out tonight? We can ask Dr. Prasad to join us."

"That would be nice. I think he'd like that too. And well be able to tell them about Dr. Fishbourne."

"I think he'll want you to call him Jeffrey, but yes." He paused and then turned to Ella. "We're good for tonight, no need to make anything for us, and thank you for all you've done," he said, seconding my appreciation.

So now we were going to have two parapsychologists and two ghosts staying with us. Seemed like a lot of psychic energy to me. I laughed to myself, wondering if they could move mountains. Well at least rearrange my mother's kitchen. Then it hit me, Clyde _had_ to come to dinner with us on Tuesday. He'd been asking about my family for a while. It was time for him to meet them. Although somehow I didn't think my mother and father would appreciate his lack of a body. My mother might pass out…maybe it was best if I _didn't_ introduce them. Grandma was a different story.

"Clyde," I texted, not having sensed him around for a while, "Dr. Fishbourne is on his way. Are you with Raj and Sandeep?"

"Yes, we're downstairs. When is he arriving?"

"Around eleven tonight, but I'm sure he'll be exhausted. We're adding ten hours to his day. He's going to stay at my place. We can meet him tomorrow. Carlos wants to take us out to dinner tonight. Any place in particular you'd like to go?"

"Are you forgetting Raj and I don't eat?"

"No. I just thought you might have an opinion. Mediterranean?"

"Sounds good to me."

"Julie," I said suddenly. We hadn't called Julie yet. "Clyde I'll text you later. We have to make arrangements for Carlos' daughter to come to New Jersey."

"Carlos?"

"We called her when we got engaged, so she's knows we'll be getting married eventually. I just hope Rachel and Ron let her fly north for the wedding. If we have to invite them and their other two children, I'm not opposed to that if it's the only way Julie can be with us."

"I should have thought about her before and asked her to be a bridesmaid. I'm sorry Carlos," I said breaking into tears.

"She can still be one. We can rent her a dress too. She's almost fourteen, I'm sure she'd be able to fit into one of the smaller women's sizes."

"You're spoiling her. A designer gown for a teenager."

"I'm not going to ask Rachel to buy her a dress she'll wear once. You said that yourself."

"Let's call her now. Ok?"

Carlos pulled his iPhone out of his pocket and placed the call. Rachel answered and after we told her we settled on a date and gave her the details, she put Julie on.

"Mom can I go? Dad said he'd send a plane for me?"

"I need to talk to your father," I heard through the speaker.

"Which one?" Julie said.

I started to laugh, but I could understand her dilemma. One was on the phone and one was in Miami.

"This dad. Tell Ranger we'll call him back after your father gets home and we've had a chance to discuss this."

I had a feeling this wasn't going to be easy.

"Let me talk to Rachel," I whispered to Carlos. I was going to try my woman to woman charm.

He asked Julie to put Rachel back on and handed me the phone.

"Hi Rachel. I'm sorry we're giving you such short notice. We have visitors from England and India staying with us and we just upped our wedding plans so they could be with us for the ceremony. I'd really like Julie to be one of my bridesmaids. I'll come down and get her myself if that will make your decision easier. Please?" I ended with the magic word that always worked for me.

"I think it will be ok, but I want to talk to Ron. We've both been very overprotective of her since her kidnapping and I think I'll have to convince him that she'll be fine. Thank you for your offer; I may need to take you up on it. I think Julie would love to be a bridesmaid. Thank you for thinking of her."

"You're welcome. Please call us back as soon as you've had a chance to talk to Ron."

xxxxXXXXxxxx

Rachel made us wait. It took her two days to call us back. Today was Tuesday and we had a lot going on. I hoped me heading down to Florida next week wasn't going to add to the stress.

"I'm sorry it took me so long to get back to you. Convincing Ron wasn't as easy as I had expected. But the good news is, I did it. Steph, I'm sorry but I had to use your offer of coming down to Florida to bring Julie back with you. We can meet you at the airport though so you don't even have to get off the plane. I also asked for Julie to be allowed to take off from school for the wedding and I was given permission. She'll have assignments, so please stay on top of her, but she can head up on Friday after school or Saturday morning. Whatever works best for you and Ranger?"

"Thank you so much Rachel. I'll fly down on Friday so Julie can have a full week with us. I promise one of the Rangeman guys will fly back with her. Carlos and I won't be able to. We'll be going on our honeymoon."

"I think it'll be ok if she flies back alone. Ron was just concerned that she'd never flown in a corporate jet before and he imagined her being frightened. Let me tell you, Julie is not the frightened type, but to placate him I went along."

"I know she's not or she would have never been able to do what she did for Carlos and I. But it'll be our secret. Thank you so much. We'll make arrangements and let you know when and where to meet me on Friday. I'm so happy it all worked out."

Holy shit. I wasn't expecting to have Julie for a _week_. With all the big-mouthed Rangemen around here, I didn't think I'd be able to hide the baby from her. And I really didn't want anyone else to know yet. We were going to have to get creative with this one.

xxxxXXXXxxxx

"Carlos are you ready to go meet Dr. Eptaminitis? It'll take us about fifteen minutes to get there."

"I'm ready Babe. Don't worry, I'll stay by your side the whole time."

"Uh maybe that's not such a good idea if she has to do any kind of internal. I don't want you shooting her now, or during delivery for that matter."

"I won't shoot her. I just want to know that you're healthy and everything is progressing normally."

"So what was with the 'my wife' you kept referring to me as with Dr. Prasad?"

"The culture in India is a lot less liberal than it is here. I wanted to let him know that we're together and that you're not still living in your parents' house."

"So how will he take the invitation to our wedding then?"

"I'm hoping Clyde will make it clear to him and Raj that we are a couple and the wedding is just a formality."

"That's a lot on Clyde, isn't it? I think you should have been honest."

"I couldn't have been any more honest; I see you as my wife. It's not a lie when it's true."

Sometimes I just loved his take on things. _'It's not a lie when it's true.'_ Oh my God, what a perfect response.

I had nothing to say to that; so I didn't say anything as we made our way down to the garage.

**A/N: I uploaded a picture of Stephanie's dress :) Hope you like it.**


	32. Chapter 32—The road to Marrakesh

_Blinky, Pinky, Inky and Clyde_

This takes place after "It's a new day, it's a new dawn, it's a new year"

A/N Thank you so much for reading along and for all your wonderful reviews. They really do keep me going. :) Thank you :)

M rating (mostly for language)

**Thank you Margaret** for reading ahead as my Beta. :) I much appreciate :)

Don't own the characters (except for Clyde), just playing :)

**Chapter 32 — The road to Marrakesh**

As we pulled out of the underground garage in the turbo I suddenly sensed Clyde with us.

"Clyde! I haven't seen or heard from you since yesterday afternoon. Is everything ok?"

"Well you'd be hard pressed to see me, but I've been around…mostly on four with Raj and Sandeep. Ranger was right about the cultural differences; I've been explaining _everything_ American to then. And what the hell do _I_ know? I feel like Rip Van Winkle who finally woke up after being asleep for a hundred years, or however that story goes. I wanted to catch you before you went for your doctor's appointment. I hope it's ok with the both of you if I come along for the ride. I have a proposition for Ranger and then I promise to stay in the car. I thought if I saw where the doctor's office was I'd be able to go with you when Ranger wasn't available. If this is too private and you want me to leave, just say so. I'll understand."

I looked over at Carlos. This was going to be a private moment for us, but the privacy would be behind closed doors with Dr. Eptaminitis. I didn't mind if Clyde tagged along for the ride and I also suspected that I knew what he wanted to talk to Carlos about. I gave Carlos the unspoken 'I'm ok with this' head gesture and he nodded back.

"We're ok with you joining us and I did invite you to meet my parents' tonight. We were planning to go straight there from the doctor's appointment anyway. As I mentioned, we'll have to play it by ear as far as me _introducing_ you to them; my mom's been known to pass out for less. I'll try to introduce you to my grandmother either today or sometime soon, but don't be surprised if she tries to date you. She'll think you're right in her age bracket."

"Forty-three. Eighty. Sure I can see that one."

"I was thinking more the hundred and ten if we count the sixty-seven years you've been dead. She'll like meeting an actual dead person; she's always trying to open the closed caskets at the funeral parlor."

"I love her already," he said, then paused. "I guess there's no good way to discuss this so I'll just bring up what's on my mind. Ranger, I was wondering if you might have a position for me at Rangeman? I've been enjoying my last few weeks of helping apprehend criminals and keeping Stephanie safe. I'd like to make it official, if I may be so bold."

"I appreciate all you've done Clyde. And I'm eternally grateful to you for distracting Jimmy Bucci so Steph could break free. Just what kind of a position are you looking for?"

"I'd like to do what I've been doing. I would just like to make it real and get paid for it."

"Ok you have a job. Paying you is going to be the hard part. According to U.S. records you're dead and they've probably recirculated your social security number. I like to keep clean records at Rangeman; the nature of our business is just ripe for an investigation. If we can figure out how to legally put you into the system, I'd be more than happy to take you on as a paid member of the team."

"Since I really have no expenses, what if my salary went directly into the fund for battered women we spoke about setting up? Maybe it could it be a write-off or something for Rangeman? And I was hoping you might rent me a small efficiency apartment too. Staying at Joe's is getting old."

"Right now four is filled up, but I anticipated my business growing and more employees in need of housing, so a few months ago I put in a bid on the building next door. The owner has been hemming and hawing about selling, but I'm sure I can persuade him by offering him more. I'd like to break through and make it all one large space but In the meantime what about taking Stephanie's apartment? Jeffrey will only be here a few weeks then he, Sandeep and Raj are heading to California for the study."

"I know, they asked me to join them and since it's after your wedding, I'll probably go. Thank you for the offer of Steph's place but I just don't need _that much_ room…and who would we say was living there? I figured you'd tell me four was full so I did some snooping and there's a nice-sized storage area that's vacant, right behind the gym. What about that?"

"One day I was hoping to turn that into the women's locker room, but so far Steph and Ella are our only female employees and both use their own showers when they do go to the gym. Take it. When we finalize the deal on the building next door and break through, we can move you. What would you need to be comfortable? A couch? A bed?"

"It looks like there is running water in there. Why don't you just set it up like any of the other efficiency apartments? I'm hoping to come back from Stanford a little more human."

"You have a deal. I want to talk to our lawyer about putting your salary into a fund. He and our accountant will have to figure out how to do it so it won't be questioned, but thank you, that's a very nice gesture. And speaking of our guests, how are your daily sessions going with Sandeep and Jeffrey?"

"Good. We're hoping to have a surprise for you in a couple of days."

"You're getting close to manifesting your energy into a body?" I asked.

"Not yet, but Jeffrey had another idea and we're developing it."

"Tell me?"

"I can't just yet but I'll need a volunteer."

"I'll volunteer, what do you need me to do?"

"Thank you, but it needs to be a man."

"I'm sure any one of my men would volunteer. I'll ask Tank to put out a sign-up sheet and also to send out a memo that you've officially joined Rangeman."

"Thank you."

I wondered just what they were up to and why they needed a volunteer. I knew Clyde would tell me if I badgered him enough, but I figured he wanted this to be a surprise.

We had arrived at the doctor's office and of course Carlos found a spot right out front.

"Ok, I see where her office is now. I'll be able to get here on my own. I'm going to head back to Rangeman. Hope your appointment goes smoothly and I'll see you later at your parents' house."

"Thank you Clyde," I said, kind of happy he was leaving us alone for our ride back. We'd probably have a lot to discuss.

xxxxXXXXxxxx

"Stephanie and Carlos, welcome," Dr. Eptaminitis greeted us when we were finally ushered into her office. "I'm sorry about the wait. I had to run over to the hospital earlier; one of my patients was having false labor and my schedule just got derailed from there. My apologies. I understand Sharon Hansen's brother is married to your sister, Carlos. We went to medical school together and became good friends."

"It's nice to meet you Dr. Eptaminitis," I said, extending my hand to hers.

"Please call me Catherine; my last name is a mouthful. I've often thought about changing it, but to what? Eptam doesn't even sound like a last name and Minitis sounds like it's infectious. "Watch out she has Minitis; you don't want to catch that, it's a simply an _awful _disease,'' she whispered and I liked her already. "I'm hoping to marry someone named Smith and make this all go away."

Once we laughed over her little joke and felt more comfortable around her, she got down to business.

"Bobby Brown called me and sent me your medical history Steph. It looks like you're about two weeks pregnant. This is _very _early to be meeting with me, usually my patients don't even have a confirmed pregnancy until after four weeks, but he's quite concerned about your diet. He says it's hard to get you to eat anything but fats and sugars."

I was going to kill Bobby.

I guess I looked like I was going to bolt, so _Catherine_ changed her tact.

"I'm not asking you to give up everything, but maybe you can replace one donut with one serving of a fruit or vegetable," she said mimicking Bobby almost word for word.

I thought that was fair, so I nodded and let her go on.

"While I have you here, we might as well do some blood work and an internal exam to make sure everything is progressing as it should be. Mr. Brown was also concerned about your age. I see you will both be thirty-four this year and I don't share Mr. Brown's concerns. I never order an amnio unless you are over thirty-five with a family history of birth defects. The test itself is invasive and if I can get away with not doing it, I feel better. I am going to ask you to do a high-res ultrasound though. I'll be able to see your baby's bones and vital organs and get an idea if an amnio or chorionic villus sampling should be done as a follow up."

I liked her. She wasn't pushing any medical shit on me yet she was honest and informative.

"I know you're anxious to see your baby, but I won't perform that first ultasound until after week ten, so I'll ask you to come back in about two months for your next appointment and sonogram."

Carlos went back into the waiting room while she had her assistant take blood. The assistant then ushered me into one of the treatment rooms to wait for Catherine. She had magazines sitting on the countertop so I figured this was going to be a long wait, but when she showed up maybe three minutes later I felt better. It was just like a regular pap test and although cold and slightly uncomfortable I was ok with everything she did.

It was twenty to six when we left the doctor's office. It was at least a fifteen-minute ride to my parent's from her office and I was starting to panic.

"Can you drive faster Carlos?"

"Babe what is with you?"

"It's almost six o'clock and if we don't sit down to dinner at exactly six on the nose, everything will be ruined. The meet will be dry. The potatoes lumpy and your turbo will turn back into a pumpkin."

"Babe. You need to get over this. There will be many times in your life when you'll be late for something."

"This isn't a s_omething_, this is dinner at my mom's. You don't understand."

"Oh I understand. She holds some kind of power over you and it isn't healthy. Babe, deep breaths."

"I can't. And what if Clyde gets there first? Oh my God, what if she senses him?"

"She won't sense him. Calm down; this isn't good for the baby. Are you sure you don't want to tell them?"

"NO," I practically yelled.

We made it there with two minutes to spare. We kissed everyone hello and sat down at the dining room table. Five, four, three, two, one. The chicken came out of the oven and I was finally able to relax. We made it.

I had the menu from Ella and a picture of the dress, so after a pretty normal dinner of my dad grunting and my mom making trips to the kitchen to tipple, I showed them what I had.

"Stephanie," my mother began after reading the menu, "What will everyone think? There's not a beef or chicken entre on this menu. What will people order?"

"Ya know mom, Ella thought this out. They can have lamb or they can have fish. Or they can sulk and have nothing. I don't care. This is my wedding and I asked Ella to plan a menu. If you want to blame someone, blame me. Carlos are you ready to leave?"

"Babe, you're not taking a minute to address your mother's concerns. Maybe this _is_ just too high-brow for your family. I'll ask Ella to add a chicken entre to the menu."

I was still ready to bolt, but I owed my family at least the courtesy of showing them a picture of my dress.

"Mom, Grandma, I had an idea in mind for a dress and Ella found this picture, what do you think?"

My mother grabbed the picture from my hands. "Oh my God Stephanie, you'll be naked. How can you do this to me? No hall, only foreign foods on the menu and my daughter exposing herself for the world to see. I'll be the embarrassment of the community."

"I think it's sophisticated. I also thought the dinner menu was elegant and you know what mom? You can take your Burg-perfect ideas about what _I should do_ and throw them out the window. Carlos and I are going to make our own life, with or without your approval. Carlos I'm ready to go. We're mailing out the invitations tomorrow. You can always decline if it bothers you so much."

"Pumpkin?" my dad said, coming out of his coma, "Is there going to be an aisle for me to walk you down?"

"Yes daddy." Thank God. I was _hoping_ I didn't have to beg.

"Good. Let me know when the rehearsal is and I'll be there. Helen we need to talk."

With that, Carlos, Clyde and I left for home.

xxxxXXXXxxxx

"Your mother has a lot of pre-conceived ideas, doesn't she?" Clyde asked once we got rolling.

"She grew up in the Burg and never left. Your sidewalk has to be swept daily. Your windows have to be spotless. Dinner must be on the table at 6 pm and above all, you have to do things exactly as they've been done for generations. Well with modern conveniences nowadays that is. She's isolated and insolated. And I bet my little outburst didn't even phase her. She'll call me tomorrow and badger me all over again about the menu and my dress. That's just the way she is."

"Babe, she did have a point about the menu. I'll ask Ella to add a chicken entre to the choices. I think my family might even have a problem with the sophisticated menu she came up with. She'll be more than happy to add one more dish. Don't worry about it."

"Do you think it would be ok if I went back there tonight?" Clyde asked. "Her outburst annoyed me and I was going to rearrange her spices and remove things from her china closet, but I have a better idea."

"What?"

"I'm going to _talk_ to her."

"Clyde, you'll freak her out. Please don't."

"I'll talk to her while she sleeps. She'll think it's a dream. She needs to change her thinking and if that doesn't work, then I'll get creative."

"What if my father wakes up and hears you talking?"

"He won't. I plan to whisper right into her ear. It's worth a shot. It may take a few days to get through all that old mumbo jumbo in her head, but I'm willing to try."

"Ok. Give it a try. And thank you."

"Don't thank me yet. Let's hope she'll hear me. What did the doctor say?"

"She said everything is normal and we don't have to go back for two months. But then she'll show us a picture of our baby."

"How can she do that?"

I forgot for a minute that Clyde was still living sixty-seven years in the past, so I explained about ultrasound the best I could.

"Will you know if it's a boy or a girl?"

"I think if you see a penis you know you have a boy, but they can do some kind of test if we really want to know. I'm sure Catherine will point out things to us as we go along."

"Do you have any preferences?"

No one had asked me that before.

"I don't know. Right now I just want him or her to be healthy."

xxxxXXXXxxxx

I checked my Rangeman email when we got home and Tank had sent out a company-wide announcement about Clyde's new position. All of my favorite Rangemen 'replied all' and welcomed him into the fold. I hoped he'd checked my laptop or something so he could see all the warm welcomes for him.

I was about to text him to come look when it dawned on me; we needed to get him a computer and a Rangeman email account of his own. He couldn't be sharing mine if he was going to be working full time.

"Carlos, Clyde needs a laptop and an email address, don't you think?"

"Yeah Babe," he answered, distracted by all the physical mail that was sitting on our credenza.

I'd talk to him about it later, so I texted Clyde and as I was reading the 'reply all's' I sensed him in the room with me.

"Clyde look, you're loved," I said moving the laptop towards the air so he could see the screen. "You have one from Hector, another from Les, one from Tank, Cal, Hal, Ram, Manny, Vince, Binky and Sybo. And the email just went out. I'm sure by the morning there will be more." As I was speaking to him, two more appeared—one from Carlos and another from Bobby.

He didn't say anything, and of course since I couldn't see his face, I couldn't tell what he was thinking.

"I started to arrange my apartment," he said after a few minutes. "Ranger said he'd set it up like the other efficiencies but I just wanted to make it mine in the meantime. I haven't really had a place to call home in a long time. I shared my, well now it's _your_, house with Sweeneys; both the live and dead ones."

He sounded a little homesick and I felt sorry for him. I'd have to talk to Carlos about a room for Clyde in our new home. He deserved it. We chased him out and were now tearing down his home.

Carlos came in as I was showing Clyde the last two emails.

"Thank you Ranger," he said after reading Carlos'. "I appreciate everything you've done for me."

"Stephanie says you need a Rangeman email address and a laptop. I just spoke with Hector and you'll have both by morning. Where would you like him to set up your laptop? Here or downstairs?"

"Downstairs, thank you. I'll stop by Hector's now; maybe he can take care of the laptop right away. I have a few things I want to research tonight."

With that he was gone.

We both realized we were alone at the same time and Carlos reached over and pulled me to him. His eyes were dark with desire. His hand was on the nape of my neck and then his mouth was on mine. The kiss was soft at first, then it turned serious and quite demanding.

I was getting all hot and bothered. God this man could turn me on. He had maneuvered us against the wall while he continued his assault on my mouth. I slid one of my legs between his and heard him growl.

Suddenly my top was over my head. He undid my bra and slid it off my arms. He picked me up and carried me to the bedroom leaving pieces of clothing in our wake.

I was as hungry for him as he was for me and suddenly he was inside of me.

"Carlos, I'm going to come," I groaned.

"That's the idea Babe," he whispered as he pumped into me and his dick hit my happy spot sending me into a rush of glory.

When I recovered he started in again. His mouth was everywhere. He began at my neck, placing little butterfly kisses there. His kisses got stronger and more passionate as he made his way down my body. He spent time on my belly button, licking, kissing and tonguing it. He then moved up to my breasts, licking them and using his thumb and forefinger to coax them into rock hard peaks. He took one into his mouth and sucked it. Then he bit it, hard. It sent shudders through my body. I was just recovering when he changed position again. This time his head was between my legs and he was running his tongue up my inner thigh. It gave me goosebumps and I shuddered again. Then his mouth was over my mound and his tongue was inside of me. I felt myself building and then I orgasmed in waves. Oh my God.

I reached for his very erect cock, but he maneuvered himself out of my reach. This was going to be an assault on Stephanie.

He didn't let up and as I felt myself building again, he slipped into me. I raked my fingernails down his back and pulled him close. I bit his neck, probably leaving marks, but he seemed to like it. He was slick with sweat and so was I. He slammed into me a few more times and then I came again, loudly. I felt him thrust into me again and then release. I could feel his cock quaking inside of me. God he felt so good.

We came down together and he just held me in his arms, talking to me in Spanish. Then he switched to English.

"Babe, have you given any thought to where you might want to go for our honeymoon?"

God. I didn't need to go anywhere. Carlos seemed to bring the honeymoon to me, but I knew we'd want to get away from everything and everyone for at least a few days.

"Somewhere warm and romantic."

"Well that could be a lot of places. I was hoping for some ideas. Antigua. Barbados. Lanzarote? Marrakesh? Cyprus."

"What's Lanzarote?"

"It's the closest of the Canary Islands to the coast of Africa. It's often referred to as the Island of Eternal Spring. It has beautiful beaches and a volcanic landscape. From there we could go to Marrakesh too, it's not that far away."

"That sounds lovely Carlos."

"Would you like to go or do you just like the way it sounds?" he teased.

"I'd like to go."

"I'll have Hal do some research and make reservations for us."

"I hate for you to ask Hal to do something personal for us."

"It's ok Babe, he enjoys it. And I think he'd welcome the break."

Well it looked like we were going to Africa for our honeymoon. I was sure that would really go over well with _my _family.

_A/N: My heart goes out to the city of Boston right now. Such a terrible tragedy. I hope we find out who was responsible and put them away for a long, long time._


	33. Chapter 33 — Keeping an Open Mind

_Blinky, Pinky, Inky and Clyde_

This takes place after "It's a new day, it's a new dawn, it's a new year"

A/N Thank you so much for reading along and for all your wonderful reviews. They really do keep me going. :) Thank you :)

M rating (mostly for language)

**Thank you Margaret** for reading ahead as my Beta. :) I much appreciate :)

Don't own the characters (except for Clyde), just playing :)

I was hoping for this to be the wedding chapter, but it was getting too long with too many loose ends, so this will go one more chapter—the wedding—and then I have an Epilogue. I'm kind of sorry to end this one, but I have a feeling Clyde will be back :)

Thank you all so much for reading and reviewing.

**Chapter 33 — Keeping an Open Mind**

"Do you think you can introduce me to your Grandmother?" I heard as I was pouring my cup of morning coffee.

"Sure. How did it go with my mom?"

"She kept swatting me away. I think I'm going to need some help with this, and your grandmother seems like the perfect ally."

"She said she had a hair appointment at eleven today. I can call her and offer to take her there. I'll introduce the two of you in the car. I need to give her a little advance warning about what she's going to see though. She's old."

"She won't _see_ anything, but I'm hoping like a lot of people she'll be able to sense me."

"Sorry. Wrong word choice. I'll call her now." I picked up my cell that was sitting on the breakfast bar and I placed a call to her cell.

"Yellow," she answered. "What was this "yellow"? She wasn't the only one who answered her phone that way and for the life of me I couldn't understand why.

"Grandma, yesterday you said you had an eleven o'clock appointment with Betty at Clip n' Curl. Would you like a ride?"

"Your mother said she'd take me but she's such a stick in the mud. I'd rather ride with you."

"Ok I'll be there at ten thirty. I'm bringing someone with me that I want you to meet."

"One of them hot Rangemen?"

"Well he is one of Carlos' men, but maybe hot isn't the right word. I wanted to explain him to you. Um, he's kind of dead."

"Did you say he was 'dead' Stephanie, or is my hearing suddenly going?"

"No I said dead. Clyde's a ghost. But don't worry he's the good kind. Want to say hello now, so you know who you're going to be meeting?"

"Sure, put him on."

I stuck the phone out so Clyde would get the idea to talk to it.

"Hi Mrs. Mazur, this is Clyde Darby. I was over for dinner with Steph and Ranger last night, but I don't think you saw me."

"Clyde? Didn't my granddaughter ask me about you and the Sweeneys a few months back? You know George wanted to date me but he died before he had a chance. Maybe you might want to take me out too? I still got my looks."

I was chuckling to myself. At least I warned him.

"Well it's been a pleasure talking to you Mrs. Mazur..."

"Please call me Edna."

"Edna. I'll see you later," Clyde said, relinquishing control of the phone back to me.

"Told you so," I mouthed.

I said goodbye to grandma and sat down at the breakfast bar to have my coffee and bagel with cream cheese, lox and tomato that Ella sent up for me.

"She's a hoot," Clyde said with a bit of a smile to his voice.

"She is. I hope she doesn't bring her gun and then try to shoot you to see what would happen. She's got the worst aim in the world. She might take out one of Betty's customers. Did you get your laptop?"

"Yep. Hector set it up for me in my new apartment. He gave me email too. Too bad most everyone I know is dead, it would have been fun to email them out of the blue. I sent a thank you to everyone at Rangeman who welcomed me. There were fourteen more this morning...and thank you for your kind words too."

"I told you we loved you. I just want to take a shower and get ready to pick up grandma. You can stay here if you want."

"I'm going to go back to my apartment, just text me when you're ready."

"Ok."

I guessed giving him a place to live was a good move after all. He seemed happy having somewhere to stay.

I texted Carlos my plan for the morning, took a shower and did my hair. I was ready in record time and I texted Clyde while I added a coat of mascara. I told him I'd meet him in the Cayenne in five minutes.

I really had no idea how he got through walls but he seemed to have a way. Maybe this was something Jeffrey could use to help him materialize some sort of a body. I also wondered when he'd be ready to show us his _surprise_. I hoped before Friday. I was going to be away most of that day getting Julie.

I grabbed my bag and closed up. When I got off the elevator on the garage level the Cayenne was open and the engine was running. I assumed Carlos had bumped into Clyde and decided to join us. I jumped into the passenger seat out of instinct.

"Someone's going to have drive and my license expired years ago," Clyde said.

"How did you do that? Do you have a key?"

"Of course not. I just wanted to show you that I have some of the same abilities as my fellow Rangemen. We just approach things a little differently."

"Smart ass."

I took the driver's seat and we headed out. Grandma was waiting at the door. Thank God. I wasn't up for dealing with my mother right now. I opened the passenger door for her and grandma shuffled in.

"Ok, where is he?" she said in lieu of a greeting.

"I'm right here Edna. I'd like to shake hands hello, just put out your hand and I'll take it from you."

Grandma did as he asked.

"Well I'll be. You almost feel human. Got any other tricks?" she asked waggling her eyebrows and moving her dentures around in her mouth.

"Grandma, behave yourself."

"I was just asking. I need to know if I'm dealing with a _live_ one. What do you say Clyde?"

"Well first off I'm dead and I think I'm a little too young for you?"

"Nonsense. What year were you born?"

"1903."

"So that makes you...um...a hundred and ten. I'm only eighty. Well get along just fine. I can't wait to let the girls at the Clip n' Curl know I found me a dead one that acts like a live one. They'll be sooooo jealous."

"Grandma you can't tell anyone about Clyde. He's Rangeman's secret weapon and they won't believe you anyway. They'll just think you're getting feeble."

"Feeble my patootie. So why did you want me to meet Clyde if I can't tell anyone about him?"

"He wants to work on mom and get her to change her negative attitude towards me."

"Gaaafaaaaw," Grandma let out the biggest laugh. "That's just not going to happen. I told you Helen's a big stick in the mud."

"I'd like to try if you'll work with me."

"Sure. Just tell me what you need me to do."

Grandma and Clyde formulated a plan and shook hands on it once we got to the beauty parlor. I let her out and she told me she'd text me when she was done so Clyde and I could pick her up. I didn't want to hang out in the Burg to wait for her, so we went back to Rangeman. I got a text as I was driving so I put my phone on the passenger seat and asked Clyde to read it to me.

"It's from Ella. Your dress arrived and she wants to set up a fitting."

"Can you get into her phone to answer for me? Tell her we're on our way back and I'll come right up."

"Ok, I just told her, but you're on your own for the fitting. I'll be in my apartment. Text me when Edna gets back to you."

"Edna?"

"She told me to call her Edna. What do you want me to do, call her Grandma?"

"I see your point. I guess Edna is fine."

The dress was beautiful. It was exactly as I saw it in my head. You'd think with as little material as there was to it I wouldn't need much in the way of fitting, but Ella saw differently. She took in the bodice and adjusted some of the drapey silver overlay to do just that, drape. I had my back to the mirror while she pinned me; although once she was done, she turned me around. God, I was amazed. I looked like a movie star.

"Is this really me Ella?"

"It is and you look beautiful. I'll sew it tonight. Too bad I won't be able to alter any of the Rent the Runway dresses, but I told the girls to order each one in a couple of sizes. Hopefully they'll fit pretty good. I have to get busy making lunch for the men, do you want anything special while you're here?"

"No. I'm fine Ella. Thank you so much for everything." And then my phone buzzed. Grandma was ready.

I texted Clyde and met him in the garage. It was like déjà vu; Clyde had the car running, but this time I knew the deal and took the driver's side. We picked up grandma and took her back to my parents' house. Her and Clyde were whispering to each other the whole way. And if that weren't enough she put her hand up to high-five him as she exited the car. I guessed they were going to start on their little plan tonight and I wondered what my mother thought seeing her slap the air. After all, my mother was at the door when we pulled up.

Grandma wanted Clyde and I to come in for lunch, but I wasn't up to seeing my mother again so soon. I was hoping they'd be able to do a little magic over the next few days and Carlos and I could bring Julie to meet everyone on the weekend. My niece Angie was only a little younger and maybe they'd get along. Come to think of it, they'd be cousins shortly.

I got another text on the ride back to Rangeman and once again put it on the seat for Clyde to read.

"It's from Lula. Her and Connie picked out their dresses and they want to know if you'd like to see them before they place their order."

We were almost at the Bond's office, so I figured it would be ok to make a quick stop. And I wanted to introduce Lula and Connie to Clyde too. They'd heard me talk about him, but I wanted them to meet before the wedding. I parked the Cayenne and we both went in.

"Hi guys," I said. "Clyde read me your text and we were nearby so we stopped in. Connie, Lula, this is Clyde. Clyde this is Connie and this is Lula. I think he'll want to shake your hands hello."

Connie put out her hand, then pulled it back quickly.

"Oh my God he took it. I wasn't expecting that. Sorry Clyde, let's try again."

"Hi Connie," he said out loud, taking her hand.

She giggled. "I think he kissed it."

"I did. I hope I wasn't being too bold," Clyde said.

"I wanna get my hand kissed by a ghost too," Lula said, hands on her hips.

"Give me your hand Lula. It's nice to finally meet you," Clyde said, obviously kissing her hand by the look on her face.

"Oh he's so sweet. I want a Clyde of my very own."

I decided that enough was enough, so I took charge of the conversation.

"Ok guys, we have to head back. Let me see those dresses."

I was prepared for anything from Lula. It could have been made out of peacock plumes for all I could imagine, but I was pleasantly surprised when she showed me a pale pink one-shouldered gown from Oscar de la Renta. Connie's gown was Gucci, in a deeper shade of pink with a criss-crossed back.

They were both beautiful.

"Oh my God guys, I love these dresses."

"Ok, then we're going to order them in a few sizes like Ella suggested. I'm thinking I'll get a 12, a 14, a 16 and an 18 just to be on the safe side."

"These are evening gowns Lula, they don't have a lot of lycra in them. You can always wear spanx underneath, but I think you should forget the size 12 and add a size 20 to the mix. We only have a week and if you have to send them back we'll be out of time."

"Size 20! Do you think I'm fat?"

"No I don't think you're fat. In your own words you're a big, beautiful woman, but judging from all the times we've tried on clothes together, you're either an 18 or a 20. And I'm not judging. I'd still love you if you were a size 40."

Oh shit. Now I did it, Lula was going to be mad at me.

"I hear ya girlfriend. I'm thinking 16, 18, 20 and 24. Just don't tell anyone ok?"

Thank God!

I needed to head back to Rangeman. I had so many things to do and less than a week to do them all so Clyde and I said goodbye to the girls and promised we'd be back.

xxxxXXXXxxxx

"Jeffrey and I are ready to show you our surprise," was the text I got from Clyde about an hour after we returned. "Binkie volunteered, so can the three of us meet you and Ranger at four today? I looked on his calendar and that was the only spot he had available. I booked him under Tank's name, hope he won't mind".

"Why didn't you use your own name? You're a Rangeman employee," I typed back.

"I don't have permission to book Ranger. Only Tank, Bobby and Lester do. I thought we could just let him know it was me after the fact."

"I should have permission to book my own fiancé. What if I needed to put him on the calendar for a doctor's appointment?"

"Nope. No can do. Tank, Bobby or Lester."

"Well that's going to change."

"How did your fitting go?"

"Really well. I looked like a movie star. And I know what you're trying to do."

"What am I trying to do?"

"Change the subject. I'll see you at four ok? Do we have a room?"

"Yes, the large conference room on two. I invited Sandeep, Raj and Tank too. Just keep an open mind."

xxxxXXXXxxxx

At five to four I was seated in the large conference room on two. So far I was the only one there. Then Tank appeared and looked at me quizzically.

"Clyde wants to show us something. The Rangeman booking system wouldn't let him book Carlos' time, so he booked as you. Hope you don't mind."

"Well I wished I knew. He should run these things by me next time," he said slightly agitated.

Then Binkie, Jeffrey and Sandeep walked in. I assumed Clyde and Raj were with them. The last to arrive was Carlos.

"What is this meeting about?" he asked walking in but yet to see me sitting there. "I can't find an agenda any…" then he spotted me.

"Babe?"

"It's Clyde's meeting. Sorry, your system wouldn't let him book you."

"Thank you all for coming," Jeffrey said in his British accent. "Clyde, Sandeep, Binkie and I have something very important to share with you. Please sit down and remain quiet for a few seconds. Binkie?"

Binkie stood and it looked like he was meditating. Suddenly he shuddered and Clyde's voice spoke from his lips.

"I want to thank Binkie for volunteering for this experiment. At the moment I am borrowing his body. This is not going to hurt him in any way; we've just pushed his psyche aside for a few minutes. Stephanie, care to dance?"

I got up and someone turned on some music. A slow dance filled the room and Binkie/Clyde took me into his arms.

"And this is how I am going to dance with you at your wedding."

I had tears in my eyes and so did Binkie/Clyde. It was one of the more beautiful moments in my life. I was dancing with Clyde.

xxxxXXXXxxxx

Hal drove me to Trenton Mercer. I had an early morning NetJets flight to Miami to pick up Julie and Rachel was meeting us at the airport at noon. We had Julie for the week and the clock was ticking. I hadn't sensed Clyde in the car with me on the way to the airport and he didn't stop by last night to say goodbye. I wondered what was going on.

We were taxiing down the runway for takeoff when I felt his presence beside me.

"Hey Steph. Sorry I'm late."

"Oh, I'm so glad you're here. I wanted you to have a chance to meet Julie before she's whisked away in a million directions. It seems like all the Manosos want to take her out. Carlos and I will be lucky if we get to spend more than a day or two alone with her."

"Well that's why I'm here and I also didn't want you travelling by yourself."

"I'm fine Clyde. I don't even have morning sickness."

"I know, but you have been getting a little testy lately. I think it's hormones and I'd hate for you to do something stupid, like alienate the pilot."

"I wouldn't do anything that…"

"Stephanie."

"Yeah I could, couldn't I?"

xxxxXXXXxxxx

I had a little flash about the last time I flew by myself. It was on the way back from Hawaii and I didn't want to think about it, so I closed my eyes. This flight was very smooth, no turbulence at all. It was so smooth in fact that I guessed my little eye-closing turned into a two-hour nap. I only woke up when Clyde nudged me that we were getting ready to land. I made a quick run to the bathroom and splashed water on my face to revive myself. I had just settled myself back into my seat and buckled in when I felt the tires hit the runway.

"Wow that was fast."

"Time flies when you're snoring."

"I wasn't snoring, was I?"

"Um let's just say you were talking in your sleep."

"Oh no, that's worse. You'll have to tell me later what I said."

"Maybe."

"Clyde!"

My little hissy fit was cut short by the plane coming to a stop and the flight attendant opening the door for us to get off.

Rachel and Julie were waiting on the tarmac and Julie ran to me when she saw me exit the plane.

"Steph. I'm so _happy_ to see you. Oh, I'm so excited; you're going to be my step-mom."

I threw my arms around her to hug her, then we walked back to where Rachel was standing so we could say goodbye.

"Thank you so much again for letting Julie be a part of our wedding ceremony. We both appreciate it so much. I'll personally make sure she does her homework and we won't let her stay up watching television or texting all night. And she'll call you everyday, won't you Julie?"

She rolled her eyes at me and reluctantly agreed. I could see this was going to be a challenge.

We both hugged a crying Rachel goodbye and got back on the plane. It was going to be a tough separation for Rachel.

Two and a half hours later, Carlos and Tank picked us up on the tarmac at Trenton Mercer. I'd been in the air for over five hours and I was beat. Julie was happy and singing and enjoying her new friend Clyde. I wondered what the pilot and flight attendant thought when they heard a male voice coming from the cabin when they only had female passengers? No wonder they looked at us funny when we de-planed.

Carlos greeted the two of us warmly. He picked up Julie and spun her around, which was a little awkward for a thirteen, almost fourteen year old. Then he put her down and walked over to me. His eyes were dark with desire. I guessed he missed me. He pulled me close and kissed me as if he hadn't seen me in a month. Although I loved it, I wondered if it was the right thing to do in front of his daughter.

"She'll get used to it," he whispered. "This is what people do when they love each other."


	34. Chapter 34—Grow Old with Me

_Blinky, Pinky, Inky and Clyde_

This takes place after "It's a new day, it's a new dawn, it's a new year"

A/N Thank you so much for reading along and for all your wonderful reviews. They really do keep me going. :) Thank you :)

M rating (mostly for language)

**Thank you Margaret** for reading ahead as my Beta. :) I much appreciate :)

Don't own the characters (except for Clyde), just playing :)

Only one more chapter to go :) Thank you all so much for reading and reviewing.

**Chapter 34—Grow Old with Me**

"Babe, come with me out to the house this morning, I want to show you something,"

"Sure Carlos. Are they all finished with the demolition?"

"Well I want to show you that too. You'd never know there had been a house there. John and his crew did a fabulous job."

"So what else do you want to show me?"

"You'll see when we get there. How long do you need to get ready? I want to go downstairs and have a short conversation with Tank, but if you'll be ready in the next fifteen minutes, it can wait."

"Go see Tank. I'll come down when I'm ready. Where will you be? Your office or his?"

"Probably his. Check both, just in case," he said, his eyes darkening as he pulled me to his body for one of his earth-moving kisses. "Next week at this time, you'll be Stephanie Manoso."

"Actually in four days I'll be Stephanie Manoso. A week from now we'll be basking in the sun on Lanzarote. Should I wake Julie? Do you want her to come with us?"

"We'll leave her a note letting her know where we are and to call Ella for breakfast. Let her sleep, I heard her on her laptop around 1 am."

"Oh Julie gets to sleep in, but I have to be up with you and the cows?"

"Babe. There are no cows here and I let you sleep when I know you've been up late."

"I promised Rachel that I wouldn't let her watch TV or text into the night. Shit. She's going to be mad at me if she finds out."

"I don't think she was doing either. It looked like she was researching for a school assignment. I'll see you shortly, ok?"

I nodded yes and he pulled me in for another kiss. I'd never get used to the way this man made me feel. Each kiss and touch was special.

Once Carlos left I texted Clyde. I wanted to find out how the crusade was going with my mother and I wanted to let him know what we were doing and to ask him if he wanted to come along.

"I'm out on patrol with Junior and Sybo. Take pictures. We're still working on your mother. I may have to move around her spices after all."

"Not going well?"

"It's just hard getting through to her. She swats me away and seems predisposed to thinking everyone is judging her and her family. They may be; but your grandmother and I are trying to get her to see that it doesn't matter. It's slow going. Take pictures of my old house. I haven't been there in over a week and I want to see what they did."

"Ok. I'll text you later. Enjoy your patrol."

I got dressed and went down to five to find Carlos. The door to Tank's office was closed, so I assumed that was where they were. I didn't want to disturb them so I walked over to the control room to see what was going on. Hal and Slick were on monitor duty, so I went in to say hi.

"Is Carlos with Tank in his office?"

Hal pulled up the camera feed from Tank's office and although we couldn't hear what they were saying it looked like they were deep in conversation. This seemed like it was going to be longer than a fifteen-minute meeting to me. I was just about to pull up a seat and make myself comfortable when Carlos stood and made his way to the door.

"Looks like the meeting is over, nice chatting with you," I said to the guys and left.

"Babe," A smile formed on Carlos' face as he saw me walking down the hall to him. He pulled me close for a quick kiss and took my hand in his slightly calloused one.

"Ready to go?"

I nodded yes and we headed towards the elevator.

It was always a surprise as to which car Carlos would fob open when we got down to the garage. Today I was betting on the turbo. I bet right and after making sure I was all buckled in and well-kissed, he got behind the wheel.

He fobbed us out of the garage and we headed towards our property. I couldn't exactly call it our house anymore, because there was no house on the property, although Carlos and I were in the process of drawing up plans for a new one.

During our fifteen-minute ride I told him about Clyde's lack of progress with my mother and he didn't seem too surprised.

As Carlos fobbed open the gate I noticed we had forsythias lining the fence and they were blooming. Driving up the hill, a magnolia tree was in full bloom and the linden trees that Artemis had pointed out when it was still winter, were just beginning to leaf. Spring had come to our property. Then I saw it. A huge white structure.

"The tent Carlos. Our wedding tent is up."

"Tents Babe. There are three of them."

"Why did we need three?"

"I know we spoke about two, but Apex convinced me that the kitchen should be housed in its own tent in case of rain. I want to show you that one first; it's very impressive."

Under the canvas was a full commercial kitchen. There were two huge propane tanks and a generator behind it for the stoves and refrigerators, although at the moment nothing was turned on. It was as big as anything I'd seen in any restaurant. Ella was going to be in kitchen heaven.

We went back out to look at the others. There were two separate tents that could be converted to one. The first was going to be used for our ceremony and cocktail hour and then we'd open the other for the full sit-down dinner and dancing. The tents themselves were just beautiful. They had at least twenty-foot ceilings with white Chinese lanterns seemingly floating everywhere. There were acrylic palladian windows set into the canvas spaced maybe every six-feet or so apart, although the sides of the tents could be raised and secured up if the weather was nice. They had put down wood flooring and a separate dance floor was arranged in the larger of the tents. Everything was gorgeous.

I was still oohing and ahhing when a couple of trucks pulled up. The men rolled out large round bases, table-tops and stacked straight-backed mission-styled chairs. Two men were also rolling out some large potted trees from one of the trucks. Oh my God. It was all coming together.

"The table linens and flowers will be the last to arrive, but this is pretty much it. Are you happy Babe?"

"It's gorgeous Carlos, even prettier than the pictures. I wasn't sure if our mismatched ideas would work, but they do."

"Now I want to show you something else," he said pulling me close and whispering in my ear. "Remember we asked that the rosebushes be protected?"

"Yes?"

"Come look, they were so protected, they're blooming."

Carlos took me over to where the house once stood, and oh my God we had pink, white and red roses that were just beginning to bloom.

"This is so beautiful. I'm glad we kept the kitchen door where it had been. We'll be able to walk out to a rose garden. I'm getting excited."

"And I have one more surprise. Marion from Tiffany's called; our rings are in. Are you up for a drive to Philly to pick them up? I think we should make sure they fit; they can always size them a little at the store if they need to."

"Do you want to go now? Julie is still sleeping and I think she might want to come with us."

"We can go back for Julie. I'll call her cell and wake her if she isn't up already. Then the three of us can have lunch in Philly."

I remembered that I promised Clyde I'd take pictures, so I took out my iPhone and backed away enough to get the three tents into one picture. Then I took a few others of each and the guys bringing in the tables while Carlos called Julie.

Julie was up and had already showered and had breakfast when Carlos got to her. She had been texting her dad and then Clyde trying to figure out which relative she was supposed to be spending the day with. Clyde texted me to let me know Julie mentioned to him that she'd had it with relatives and wanted to spend some time with us, so I told that to Carlos.

"Tell her we'll be home in fifteen minutes and ask her if she'd like to come with us. Let her know about Philadelphia pizza. I think that will convince her if nothing else will," I said already drooling in anticipation.

"I already told her. She says she's going downstairs to spend some time with Les and Hal and that we should text her when we pull into the garage."

Julie was such a great kid. She loved the fact that we were having a designer wedding, which was not at all planned by me, and her and Ella found a Dolce and Gabbana dress for her. And somehow like everyone else's, it just happened to be pink. I guessed fate found me a color scheme.

When the elevator opened Julie bounced out. "Dad, Stephanie. My dress arrived. Oh my God, it makes me look at least sixteen. Don't show mom any of the pictures or she'll be mad at you."

"Julie? I saw the dress you picked and it looked elegant. Did you get something else? Your mom wouldn't object to the dress Ella and I helped you choose?"

"Um, yeah that one didn't come in my size. We found something else. Ella was a little hesitant but I told her you'd like it."

"Julie!"

"No. It's gorgeous, really," she said as I got out of the turbo to let her get into the backseat.

I texted Ella while Julie settled in. I wanted to know if we should get a back-up dress for her. Rachel was going to want to see the pictures and unlike an ex-beau I couldn't cut Julie out of each and every one of them.

"No dear, it's fine. I don't think Rachel will object. The style just gives her breasts. She looks beautiful in it."

So that's what she didn't want her mom to see. Cute.

I could see Carlos was getting a little nervous with all this talk about a dress Rachel wouldn't want to see their daughter in, so I put my iPhone under his nose so he could read Ella's text to me.

A big smile spread over his face. Thank God.

We arrived in Philly about thirty-five minutes later and of course there was a spot right in front of Tiffany's. Carlos parked and I dug quarters out of my bag for the meter.

Julie was in awe. I'd be in awe too if I hadn't been to the place just last week when we picked out our rings.

Marion met us at the door and we introduced Julie. Carlos winked at her; obviously they had something up their collective sleeves. She sat us down and went into the back to get our rings. Mine was the sister piece to the engagement ring Carlos had given me with channel set diamonds encircling it and his matched mine, but with a plain milgrained platinum band. I removed my engagement ring and put it on. They were just beautiful together and it was the perfect fit.

Carlos put his on and I started to cry. Everything made me cry lately but seeing a wedding band on Carlos' left ring finger just set me off. We were going to be husband and wife in a few short days.

Marion smiled at me, then left us alone. She came back with two additional boxes and handed one to Julie and one to me.

Carlos urged us to open the boxes. Julie opened hers first. It was a single pearl pendant in a baroque setting that had the feel of the roaring twenties. It was gorgeous.

"Dad, this is for me?"

"Of course. I like to see my women look beautiful."

She grabbed him around the neck and kissed him. "Thank you."

I opened mine next and it was a pair of gorgeous earrings. There was a large blue stone in the middle surrounded by diamonds. It wasn't a sapphire and I wasn't sure what it was, but it was beautiful.

"It's a tanzanite Babe. I thought the color matched your eyes. Do you not like it?"

"I love it Carlos, thank you," I said and the tears started to flow all over again. I kissed him thank you and I wondered why I even bothered putting on mascara anymore.

Carlos paid for his purchases using his black Amex card. I could only _imagine_ what everything came to. He was spending way too much money on me.

"There's not enough money in the world if it brings a smile to your face. I told you I want to buy you nice things. Just accept them as tokens of my love. I can afford it."

"Thank you. I love you too."

"Guys, I'm sitting right here," Julie said. "You can do this _stuff_ when I leave. You're embarrassing me."

We broke apart and smiled at her.

Marion was back with everything in a small blue Tiffany's bag, which she handed to Carlos. We all shook hands with her and thanked her for her time and patience; then we headed out for pizza.

xxxxXXXXxxxx

We were having a small wedding rehearsal followed by a dinner at Rizzolli's and it was going to be the first time I'd seen my mom since Clyde started whispering persuasive things in her ear at night and grandma reinforced them during the day. It would be interesting to see what she had to say about our property, the tents and our lack of a Catholic priest to perform the ceremony.

We had rented a couple of valets for the evening and also for our wedding to take cars and park them on the lawn. We also hadn't destroyed any of the walkways when we tore down the house and I was glad because the ground was still pretty soft and Lula, Mary Lou and Connie were each wearing four inch heels when they got out of their cars. Thankfully no one would have to walk through the mud.

We had asked a Ranger buddy of Carlos' who became a Unitarian minister after his army days were over, to perform the ceremony and he graciously agreed. Thankfully he was ministering in Princeton so he wasn't very far away.

Uh oh, the moment of reckoning: my mom, dad and grandmother had arrived.

I was wearing one of the Nicole Miller dresses Ella had bought for me and Carlos was in his perfectly-tailored Armani suit, so she couldn't say anything about our attire. I was ready for whatever she was going to throw my way and I was standing with Julie when she walked over.

"Stephanie, you look beautiful and your property is so pretty with all the trees and bushes stating to bloom," she said, pulling me in for a hug. "Hi Julie dear, my you look so pretty and grown up." So far, so good.

We introduced the families. Tank, Bobby and Lester seemed to know everyone on both sides and took it upon themselves to introduce Mary Lou, Connie, Val and Lula.

Dr. Barry Emerson, our Unitarian minister had arrived, so we were going to start the rehearsal. He was wearing one of those long-scarf vestments over his suit and my mother spotted him right away. I walked over in case this got weird.

"Good evening Father. I'm Helen Plum, Stephanie's mother. We haven't had the pleasure of meeting before. Where is your parish?"

"Oh good evening Mrs. Plum. I'm Dr. Emerson, but you can call me Barry. I'm not a Catholic priest; I'm a Unitarian minister. I know Carlos from Ranger school and they asked me to preform the ceremony. I'm quite honored to be here."

"Oh. Do you have a church?"

"I do, it's in Princeton. You and your family are welcome to stop by anytime. Stephanie knows where we're located."

"Thank you, doctor. I'll see you later."

"Barry."

"Barry."

Whew, that went well. I was expecting fireworks.

I sensed Clyde at my side. I hoped no one was watching me but I had to let him know that I was noticing a big difference in my mother.

"I think it's working," was all I said.

"Took long enough. You may want to introduce me to your mom and dad. I think they can sense me now."

"Ok. After the rehearsal."

Everyone was paired up for the walk down the aisle: Val and Carlos' brother Alex, Julie and his sister Daria's oldest son Sean, her cousin, Lula and Lester, Connie and Bobby, Mary Lou and Tank and me and my dad.

This was only the rehearsal and my mother and Carlos' mother were both crying. Image what they'd do on Saturday?

We decided to walk down the aisle to John Lennon's _Grow Old with Me_ and when someone put it on, even I got teary. Not that I was a big Lennon fan but the words just set me off.

_Grow old along with me_

_The best is yet to be_

_When our time has come_

_We will be as one_

_God bless our love_

_God bless our love _

_Grow old along with me_

_Two branches of one tree_

_Face the setting sun_

_When the day is done_

_God bless our love_

_God bless our love_

_Spending our lives together_

_Man and wife together_

_World without end_

_World without end _

_Grow old along with me_

_Whatever fate decrees_

_We will see it through_

_For our love is true_

_God bless our love_

_God bless our love_

When I reached Barry and Carlos I was sure the mascara was running down my face, but I did as we had been told and smiled at my future husband.

We had borrowed some inspirational words for our wedding vows; mine was_ From this Day Forward_ by Marianne Williamson and Carlos picked _Away from You _by Sara Brightman, but we weren't sharing them tonight. We were just going through the motions. My dad handed me over to my future husband and I noticed that his eyes were wet too.

Fuck. I didn't know how I'd be able to do this if Carlos and my dad weren't strong for me.

Then I heard Clyde in my ear, "Steph you can do this. You and Carlos love each other, just pull up your bootstraps. You're almost there."

xxxxXXXXxxxx

I didn't know how I did it, but I had taken my mother and father aside after the rehearsal and before dinner. I told them I had someone special I wanted to introduce them to and asked if they could sense someone with us. First my mom said no, then she changed her mind.

"Well I think I can feel some kind of force. Is this what you're asking about?"

"Mom, dad, don't freak out on me, but this is my friend Clyde Darby. Clyde is a ghost, but the good kind. Carlos and I discovered him _here_; he'd been living in our house for the last sixty-seven years. I guess you could say we liberated him. Clyde, meet my mom, Helen and my dad Frank. Mom, dad, this is Clyde. Put out your hand, I think he'd like to shake it."

My mother put hers out first and Clyde took it. "A pleasure to meet you Helen. You have such a lovely daughter."

I was afraid she might pass out, but she didn't.

"Oh aren't you the gentleman." I guessed he kissed her hand. "Nice to meet you too Clyde."

Then my dad and Clyde shook hands amongst a few grunts from my dad.

"Nice to finally meet you Mr. Plum."

"Mmm. Err. Yes, nice." That was more than I expected from my father. I considered that a good introduction.

xxxxXXXXxxxx

Ella's sister came over to the apartment to help me with my hair and makeup. I told her it wasn't necessary, but Ella had wanted me to relax before the ceremony and this was one of her many presents to us.

She was light on the makeup because I told her I wanted to look like me. And when she was done, I did look like me…only better. She got my hair to behave yet still curl softly down my shoulders. I looked beautiful.

Carlos was going to head out to our property with Tank, Lester and Bobby. They said they were going to get dressed there. I hoped not in one of the portable bathrooms we had set up near the kitchen. They were much, much nicer than porta-potties, but still.

It was a beautiful day. The sun was shining. The predicted temperature was going to be 71º so we opted to open the tents and have an outside wedding. A limo was picking up my parents and grandma and then coming for me. Another was going to pick up Lula, Connie, Val, Mary Lou and Julie.

It seemed like everything happened so fast. Next thing I knew the limo was in the garage and Ella's sister Maribel was escorting me down. Ella had found me a small white, feathered fascinator in lieu of a traditional veil and I felt like a princess when the limo driver opened the door for me.

There were people congregated under the tents and walking on our property when we pulled up. I saw Carlos and Tank in their tuxes talking with my brother-in-law Albert and my four nieces, the littlest still in her stroller. Mary Lou's boys were running on the grass, letting off steam and my cousin Shirley the whiner and her husband Eddie were standing with Carl Costanza and his girlfriend Sam. Oh my God, everyone was here. Most stopped what they were doing and turned to see me get out of the limo.

Carlos came over and took my hand, helping me out and kissing me. A photographer followed getting that kiss on film.

"You look stunning Babe."

"Not too shabby yourself. You clean up nicely."

"Babe."

Ella was not only chief chef, but she had taken on the role of coordinator. She somehow gathered everyone towards the open tent and ushered them to their seats. The wedding party stayed behind and we did what we did last night. Only this time it was for real.

I don't remember the walk down the aisle. I just remember my dad kissing me and handing me over to Barry and Carlos. Through the corner of my eye I sensed Mary Lou taking my flowers from me so we could recite our poems, exchange our vows and give each other our rings.

I said mine, through shaky lips:

_From this day forward, you shall not walk alone. _

_My heart will be your shelter, and my arms will be your home. _

_**- From this Day Forward by Marianne Williamson**_

Carlos repeated his strongly and with determination:

_Away from you there is no music, there is no sunlight, the world is gray. _

_Away from you the clocks are frozen, and time's a traveler who's lost his way. _

_I'm half alive until the moment the door swings open and you walk through, _

_Now my soul is afloat on a melody of music that I could feel such joy I never knew. _

_And so you see why I can never be away from you. _

- _**Away From You, by Sarah Brightman**_

Then we exchanged our vows:

I promise to be your lover, companion and friend,

Your partner in parenthood,

Your ally in conflict,

Your greatest fan and your toughest adversary.

Your comrade in adventure,

Your student and your teacher,

Your consolation in disappointment,

Your accomplice in mischief.

This is my sacred vow to you, my equal in all things.

Barry pronounced us husband and wife and I finally relaxed.

We walked back down the aisle to _I'm a Believer _by Smashmouth and everyone greeted us, hugged us and kissed us on the other end.

Some of the Rangemen guys had put the two tents together after the ceremony and while the caterers were walking around with hors d'oeuvres our photographer whisked us, our bridal party and immediate families away to take pictures. I was getting hungry. I hoped Ella stashed away some hors d'oeuvres just for us (she did).

Catherine had told me I could have a little champagne and some wine at the reception. She had told us that the latest on alcohol during pregnancy was that up to four glasses a week was ok. In fact, new thinking was that it was better to have a little alcohol than to avoid it all together. I was glad she said this because I didn't want to start any rumors by just having water. I was going to have champagne for our toast and a few sips of wine with dinner.

After our pictures were done we headed back to the tent where our DJ, who was a friend of Lester's, was setting up. He was also doubling as our emcee.

He introduced us as we walked through the tents, beginning with our grandmothers, then our parents, the bridal party and finally us. When we were introduced yelps rang out. It was the first time I had heard us referred to as Mr. and Mrs. Manoso and I started to cry. Carlos held me close, kissed me and calmed me with words in Spanish. I guessed I was going to cry a lot tonight.

Suddenly the song came on for our first dance. We had picked _#1 Crush _by Garbage, not exactly your typical first dance song, but we liked it. After that was over Tank gave a toast and then Mary Lou. I took a few sips of champagne, and they went right to my head. Champagne always does that to me. Oh well, it was probably better for me to be a little tipsy at my wedding than too stiff and nervous.

After the toast, the caterers started bringing out the first course and our emcee asked everyone to take their seats.

Everything seemed to flow nicely after dinner. I danced with my father. Carlos danced with his mother. I danced with Tank, then Lester, Bobby, my new father-in-law. Carlos danced with my mother and all my bridesmaids. His dance with Julie was so adorable people were grabbing their cameras and coming in close for a photo op.

When Binkie came up to me and put out his arms for a dance, I knew it was Clyde and went to him with tears in my eyes. This was something we both had wished for that I never would have even believed possible. And it was happening…I was dancing with Clyde at my wedding.

After he danced with me he/Binkie went over to my mother. "Helen, can I have this dance?"

"Clyde?"

Yes, I don't want to take advantage of my host Binkie, so a short dance?"

She went to him with a smile on her face. Who would have guessed?

Our emcee called for Carlos and I to come over. The cake was wheeled out. Oh my God, this was it. We cut the cake then went back out to the dance floor and motioned people to join us while the cake and dessert were set out.

Jason, the emcee called everyone back to their seats for dessert and coffee and played some soft music while we ate.

Someone motioned to me that I needed to throw the bouquet. I was really hoping they would forget about that part…and the garter, but no one did and they prompted me on.

Connie caught the bouquet. Interesting since her and Hal seemed to have spent the evening together and were looking at each other kind of google-eyed as the night wore on. I was glad. I wanted the best for the both of them and even though Connie was at least five years older than Hal, they seemed right together.

Suddenly our limo beeped for us. We had a hotel room booked outside of the airport and our flight to Lanzarote was leaving at 10 am tomorrow morning.

We bid all our friends and family goodbye and were ushered into our waiting limo.

Our honeymoon was about to begin.


	35. Epilogue

_Blinky, Pinky, Inky and Clyde_

This takes place after "It's a new day, it's a new dawn, it's a new year"

A/N Thank you so much for reading along and for all your wonderful reviews. They really do keep me going. :) Thank you :)

M rating (mostly for language)

**Thank you Margaret** for reading ahead as my Beta. :) I much appreciate :)

Don't own the characters (except for Clyde), just playing :)

This is the final chapter :) Thank you all so much for reading and reviewing.

**Chapter 35—The Epilogue**

We were gone for three weeks. Two weeks in Lanzarote and a week in Marrakesh. We had finalized the plans for our house before we left and had assigned a contractor. They were calling the style of our new home Mediterranean Modern, but to me it was just pretty and fit in very well with the landscape around it.

It was a split bedroom design meaning our master suite was on one side of the house and two others were in a wing of there own, separated by an open-plan leisure room with a fireplace and a large country-style kitchen. The master suite had a nursery alcove that could be converted to another large walk-in closet when our baby was big enough to have a room of its own. There was also an office for Carlos and a nook for me, a large open living room, a dining room with a built-in buffet and a rear verandah, which was accessible from the living room, dining room, our bedroom, the leisure room and one of the other bedrooms. Within the same footprint was a three-car garage that had a gym and another bedroom over it. We had also opted to put in a swimming pool with a cabana behind the verandah. And as promised, our kitchen had a door to the outside that opened to the rose garden that we kept. The place was going to be beautiful.

I had already discussed a room for Clyde with both Carlos and Clyde. Initially Clyde turned it down. He felt his efficiency apartment at Rangeman was enough space for him, but I hoped to convince him to take the bedroom over the garage. It was private and it would give him a place of his own when he visited us and his niece or nephew. Of course he was going to be _Uncle_ Clyde.

We were told the place, minus the pool and cabana, would be in move-in condition in about six-months. That would put the timing around October and my birthday. Our baby wasn't due until early-January (well January 2nd was the due-date we were given) so that seemed to work out perfectly. I'd still be able to help with the move and I'd be closer to our obstetrician and hospital.

Oh, just a little interesting aside: Lester caught my garter at the wedding. Yes, Lester…Rangeman's playboy extraordinaire. I didn't even think he would have taken part in that little game, but as fate would have it, the garter came down on his head. Next to be married? Probably not; but at least it was worth speculating about.

We left Newark at 10 am as planned. We had a connecting flight to Lanzarote from Barcelona, where we planned to spend a day. We arrived at 7 pm New Jersey time, 11 pm Barcelona time. We had one full day and into the next morning to explore the city or stay in our hotel room and explore each other. We opted for a little of both.

I saw the oldest thing I ever saw in my life that wasn't in rubble: the Bascilica La Seu. It had fragments of old Roman walls in its foundation and was said to have been founded in the year 343. Now that's old. We loved walking around the old city and Carlos spoke Spanish with everyone. We had a great afternoon. Then we went back to our hotel room in hopes of an even better evening before heading out to dinner.

What can I tell you?

Carlos picked me up, carried me over the threshold and straight into the bedroom where he pulled off my shoes.

"Babe, we've been walking around all day, let me relax your feet."

I looked at him a little strangely, but hey, I was up for anything. He took the body lotion that they give you in those little bottles from the bathroom and brought it over to the bed. He propped my legs up on a pillow and turned on some music from the television. He had to have planned this all before in order to know where the music channel was. Don't you think?

He warmed the lotion in his hands and then he applied deep hard pressure to my right foot.

Oh my God. I moaned in pleasure.

He spent a lot of time kneading and caressing my foot before massaging my toes one at a time. Then he moved up to my ankle and finally my calf. I was a puddle before he turned his attention to my left foot. He repeated the process and I swear I couldn't have moved even if I had wanted to.

I thought he was done when he took my right foot back. First he kissed my ankle, then he worked his way down my foot with his mouth. He started running his tongue over the sole of my foot. Oh God, an unexpected turn-on. He took my big toe into his mouth and looked at me sensually. I swear it looked like he was sucking on a penis. Then he used his tongue to lick it all around and by now I was really hot and turned on. I reached for him and I could see his pants were a little tight in the crotch. Did that turn him on too? Oh my God.

Suddenly my shorts were gone, then my top. I didn't know when Carlos removed his own clothes, but when I looked up at him he was naked.

He was _very _hard and before he could reach me again, I took his beautiful cock into my mouth. I looked at him, just the way he did with me and my toe and I moved my mouth up and down his shaft. Slow and sensual at first, licking him all around and under the head, all the while making eye contact. Taking him in deep, then letting him out slow. My plan was to torture him. Just a little payback for all he's ever put me through.

Except it was all turning _me_ on. God I wanted to just get on top and ride him like Roy Rogers rode Trigger. So I did what I wanted, only I didn't quite jump on. I just rubbed myself against his penis and moved my breasts close to his mouth. It didn't take long before he flipped me over and thrust himself deep inside of me. Oh my God.

We were lucky that restaurants served dinner very late in Barcelona because we almost didn't make it out to dinner at all.

It was close to midnight when we got back to our hotel and since we had a 10 am flight in the morning, we packed up all our stuff before we went to bed. Thankfully Carlos thought to order room service for the morning. If this was any indication of how our honeymoon was going to be, I'd need a vacation when we got back.

Lanzarote was beautiful with its volcanic formations jutting out into the sea. We ran on the beach, snorkeled in the lagoons, went for a camel ride and visited some quaint little towns. Of course we also explored each other. Our two weeks went by pretty quickly. We had a direct flight to Marrakesh on Iberia Airlines. It was only a forty-five minute flight, but it still took everything out of me. I had gotten so relaxed on Lanzarote.

I hadn't been expecting the bustle of a city. I didn't know what I was expecting, but it wasn't what we found. It was fabulous. Our first venture out was to Jamaa-el-fna, the square and market place in the medina of the old city. The square itself was filled with orange juice stalls, teenage boys with chained apes and snake charmers. I was fascinated. We hung around for a bit and someone called to us from the side of a building. He wanted to show us some carpets. I was skeptical at first, but I was with Carlos and I had the feeling he'd been here before, or someplace like it. We followed the man out of the square and through a narrow street, up a staircase and into a large open space filled with rugs and carpets of various sizes, shapes and colors. We were seated and someone brought us glasses of mint tea to sip while the rug show took place.

Two men started pulling out carpets and holding them up for our inspection.

"Can you see the detail in this carpet?" Abdul, our English-speaking carpet salesman asked us. "Four women worked on this carpet at the same time."

"Yes, it's beautiful," I said.

"Look at the stitching. One woman went blind making this carpet."

"I'm sorry."

"If you buy this carpet you will be helping 1,000 people. That's the whole village. Every stitch is done by hand. It is only 6,000."

"6,000 dirhams?" I asked. That was the currency in Morocco and it added up to about $1,800.

"No. 6,000 Euros." I did some quick math as we'd been calculating Euros to U.S. dollars since Barcelona. That was almost $8,000. "That's a lot on money," I mumbled.

"What would you pay for this carpet? Would you pay 4,000? 3,000? You can trust these people. They make the best carpets in all of Morocco."

He then went into the spiel about the four women and how one went blind making this carpet again. I looked over at Carlos who was wearing his 'I'm just thinking about smiling' face. He wasn't going to help me.

"If you buy two carpets you get an even better deal," Abdul went on.

"How about 1,000 for two carpets?" I asked getting into this whole, quick price-reduction thing.

"Please Madam, do not insult me. It has to be 2,000. Think of the blind woman. 2,000 it must be."

They _were_ beautiful carpets, so I nodded yes and suddenly two men came out of the woodwork with rope. Oh my God, were they going to tie me up?

I guessed Carlos saw the panic on my face. "Don't worry Babe, they are just wrapping up your carpets for you."

"Wrapping up? I can't carry these. Can't we have them shipped back to the U.S.?"

"The hotel can help us with that. These men will carry our carpets back to the hotel for you. You just have to tip them."

That was a relief. So for a little over $2,500 we got two beautiful Moroccan carpets. They would look fabulous in our new home.

Abdul pulled out a small hand-held credit card swiping machine. Carlos gave him his black Amex card.

"I'm sorry. We don't accept American Express here. Visa?"

I didn't know if Carlos had any other card. I never saw him offer up anything but his black Amex card. I had a Visa card, but this purchase would just about max me out. I hoped it would get in under the radar. I opened my wallet and handed Abdul my Visa card and he smiled at me.

"You have made a wise purchase Madam. The entire town of Khemisset thanks you. You are a saint in their eyes now."

And that is how we ended up with the two beautiful Moroccan carpets that grace our foyer and living room.

We moved in right on time. October 21st, 2013. It was a few days after my birthday, so I looked at our house as my thirty-fourth birthday present. We had found furniture we both loved and had it delivered after the crew put the finishing touches on the place. The white modern couches adorned with bright-colored pillows weren't exactly a child-friendly color scheme, but I had a feeling our daughter was going to take after her father. Carlos is a little anal when it comes to neatness. I had a feeling I was going to be the odd man out.

Yes, around week fourteen we found out our baby was going to be a girl and accessorized her nursery alcove with all kinds of girly things in shades of lime green and magenta. I found a round crib in a magazine and we finally tracked it down to Restoration Hardware. It was beautiful, unique and made out of white wood; so we got the chest of drawers that matched it. Nothing was too good for our little girl.

Francesca Rose Manoso was born a day early. She came into the world on January 1st, 2014. She wasn't the first baby of the new year so we weren't given a years' worth of disposable diapers or anything like that, but her birthday was going to be celebrated yearly, world-over by everyone.

She was beautiful. She had Carlos' dark silky hair and dark eyes and her coloring was somewhere between the two of us. I guessed she looked more Italian than anything. My father couldn't have been happier. _This _granddaughter was named after him and she looked like she belonged on his side of the family. Julie was ecstatic too. She called us everyday asking to be filled in on her new sister's progress. Lester, Tank, Bobby, Hector, Hal, Manny, Cal and Ram all wanted the distinction of being called 'uncle', so Francesca now has eleven uncles of varying races, creeds and colors.

I think her favorite is Uncle Clyde, who has been reading bedtime stories to her since she was born.

How many children do you know who have an invisible favorite uncle?

Unfortunately, even all the brains at Stanford weren't able to help Clyde with his wish to generate a body. He can amass enough energy to pick up Francesca, but that's about it. Although the good news is that he met Sue Ellen.

Sue Ellen was another spirit that attended the conference. Raj, Clyde and Sue Ellen were the guests of honor and became fast friends. Raj and Dr. Persad went back to India when the conference was over, but Dr. Fishbourne pulled some strings and Sue Ellen came back east to work with him and Clyde. Yes, Jeffrey's moved to the U.S. as Clyde told him, in no uncertain terms, that he _wasn't_ moving to London.

We are in the process of building another small structure on our property. It will be a house for Clyde and Sue Ellen. Yes, they are living together in Clyde's efficiency apartment at Rangeman. Who would think two non-entities would get in each other's way in a small apartment—after all neither took up much space. But they did.

Carlos offered to build them a house on our property to solve that dilemma. It faces the street behind us and should be completed in the next month or two. And unlike some people, we don't care what the neighbors will think about a house that no one lives in, as our closest neighbors will be Clyde and Sue Ellen. After all, this isn't the 'Burg.

And so ends the story of Blinky, Pinky, Inky and Clyde.


End file.
